Genoa bridge collapse leaves apocalyptic scene

The collapsed Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy, on Aug. 14, 2018. The bridge on a main highway linking Italy with France collapsed Tuesday in the Italian port city of Genoa during a violent storm, sending vehicles plunging nearly 150 feet into a heap of rubble.

Authorities said at least 35 people were killed, although the death toll fluctuated throughout the day and some people were found alive in the debris.

Rescuers at the scene of the collapse on Tuesday. 

A huge section of the Morandi Bridge fell at midday over an industrial zone, sending tons of twisted steel and concrete onto warehouses below.

The head of Italy's civil protection agency said 30-35 cars and three heavy trucks were on the 260-foot section of the bridge that collapsed.

Rescuers work among the debris of the collapsed bridge.

Hundreds of firefighters and emergency officials were searching for survivors in the rubble with heavy equipment. Firefighters said at least two people were pulled alive from vehicles and taken by helicopter to a hospital.

A helicopter with the Vigili del Fuoco, the Italian fire and rescue service, flies over the site as rescuers work amid the wreckage.

At least 23 people were killed in the collapse that occurred during torrential rainfall around 11:30 a.m. local time.

Rescue workers recover a body at the site of the collapse.

The disaster occurred on a highway that connects Italy to France, and northern cities like Milan to the beaches of Liguria.

The collapse came on the eve of a major Italian summer holiday on Wednesday called Ferragosto, which marks the religious feast of the Assumption of Mary. It's the high point of the season, when most businesses are closed and Italians head to the beaches or the mountains. 

Vehicles are stopped on the Morandi highway bridge after a section of it collapsed. 

The Morandi Bridge connects the A10 highway that goes toward the French Riviera and the A7 highway that continues north toward Milan. Inaugurated in 1967, it is just over half a mile long.

A rescuer stands next to a damaged vehicle.

A truck remains on the bridge after it collapsed.

Rescuers walk past an overturned truck.

A portion of the collapsed bridge.

Read: Highway bridge collapses in Genoa, Italy