The president of the committee representing the families of the 43 victims of the Genoa Morandi bridge collapse on Wednesday condemned remarks made by star photographer Oliviero Toscani who reportedly said "who cares if a bridge falls".
"Forty-three innocents dead - they might not count for him but they were everything to us", said Egle Possetti, president of the 'Ricordo Vittime Morandi' (Remembering the victims of the Morandi bridge) committee.
Possetti called Toscani's statements "inappropriate and confused".
Possetti also said in the statement on Wednesday: "We have been expecting every day, for nearly 18 months, some new idea - sometimes someone uses our dead to gain visibility or to communicate idiocies".
The well-known photographer made the remarks during a RAI radio program to comment on a controversy sparked by a photograph portraying the founders of the popular Sardines grassroots movement together with him and Luciano Benetton, whose family controls Autostrade per l'Italia.
The company has been accused of being responsible for the collapse of the Morandi bridge because it allegedly failed to take the necessary action to prevent the disaster in August 2018.
"Who cares if a bridge collapses, let's stop it", said Toscani, who has long collaborated with the Benettons and worked on several ad campaigns for their clothing company.
The photo was snapped at a cultural center called Fabrica set up by Benetton and directed by Toscani and has sparked criticism within the Sardines anti-populist movement and beyond with members accused of letting themselves be exploited by Benetton.
Luciano Benetton's son Alessandro said via Instagram that "I strongly disassociate myself from Toscani's statements". Toscani said that his words had been misinterpreted. "I'm sorry that confused, extrapolated words can make people think something crazy like me not being interested in the bridge (disaster) at all," he said via Twitter. "It's just spitefulness to exploit something like this. "Like everyone, I am interested in and indignant about that tragedy, but it is absurd that some journalists ask me for explanations".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
