Provisional death toll in Italy's Genoa bridge collapse rises to 26

GENOA - The provisional toll of a bridge collapse in Italy's northwest city of Genoa rose to 26, local authorities said late on Tuesday.

"Official victims rise to 26, including 23 on the spot (of collapse), 1 person under surgery, and 2 pulled out from rubble," the region of Liguria (of which Genoa is capital city) said on Twitter.

Some 15 people were also registered, of which nine were considered as "red codes", meaning they were in critical health conditions, the government added.

All of the bodies were sent to the San Martino hospital, and at least 19 of them were identified, according to the regional authorities.

The region would officially call a state of emergency due to the major incident on Wednesday, and mayor of Genoa Marco Bucci said two days of mourning would be declared on Aug. 15-16.

Meanwhile, rescuers were expected to continue their search activities all through the night, according to civil protection agency and firefighters.