Stretch of Italian city near famous Ponte Vecchio caves in after waterpipe it sat on broke, plunging 20 vehicles into ditch

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A stretch of street has collapsed in central Florence, dropping a row of parked cars into an underground pipeline and cutting water supplies to part of the ancient city.

About 200 metres (650ft) of road running up to the famous Ponte Vecchio caved in when a major waterpipe it was sitting on broke, the city’s mayor, Dario Nardella, said.

Around 20 cars fell into the water-filled ditch, but no one was injured.

Authorities were trying to determine on Wednesday whether the weakened tarmac could withstand the weight of a crane to extract the waterlogged cars.

Nardella stressed that the underground flooding was the result of a gash in a 60-centimeter (two-foot) diameter pipe, one of the major water conduits in the area, and not a leak in the banks of the Arno.

“Seeing that chasm 200 metres from the Ponte Vecchio was a blow. When I got there this morning my heart ached,” Nardella told Italian media, as residents and tourists hovered at the scene, snapping photographs.

“But I assure you there is no danger to the people of Florence and the historic city centre is completely safe,” he said.

Local geologist Vittorio Doriano told Il Tempo daily that the collapse was caused by two blowouts in the water pipe, one around 1 am and the other a few hours later which caused “considerable damage”.

Residents alerted emergency services after cracks appeared in the road following the first break in the pipe, and 12 cars were moved.

Critics said the water company, Publiacqua, should then have turned off the water supply to the area in a bid to prevent further damage.

As firemen stood guard around the sunken road just metres from the Ponte Vecchio - where thousands of tourists snap selfies daily among chocolate-box jewellery stores - Florentines and opposition politicians took to social networks in anger.

The collapse “raises the curtain on the criminal management of water resources in Florence”, said Federica Daga, a member of the anti-establishment Five Star movement, blaming not just the mayor but his predecessor, current Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Emergency services at the scene Photograph: Maurizio Degl Innocenti/EPA

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A firefighter stands next to vehicles Photograph: Maurizio Degl Innocenti/EPA