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ROME, Aug. 16-- A collapsed bridge that resulted in the deaths of 39 people is unnerving investors in both the private company that operated the bridge and the cash-strapped Italian government that now planning to dramatically increase the amount it spends on infrastructure maintenance. Tuesday's tragic event, which took place just outside the northern coastal city of Genoa, has been in headlines around the world since it happened. The news has been bad for Atlantia, the holding company that controls highway operator Autostrade per l'Italia, which has the concession to operate the Morandi Bridge. In the two trading sessions since the event took place -- there was no trading in Italy on Wednesday, a national holiday in Italy -- the company has lost more than a fourth of its value, a loss on paper of more than 5 billion euros (5.7 billion U.S. dollars). On both Tuesday and Thursday, the company's shares were the most traded issues on Milan's Italian Stock Exchange. Analysts said investors were spooked by comments from Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Minister of Transportation Danio Toninelli, and Minister of Labor Luigi Di Maio, who said they wanted to remove Autostrade per l'Italia's government concessions, as well as worries about costs related to the tragedy. Andrea Ciarini, a sociology of economics professor at Rome's La Sapienza University, said the sell-off of shares could be premature. "We don't know anything yet," Ciarini told Xinhua. "We don't know what the investigations will turn up, we don't know if the government can remove the concession or if they want to do it for all their holdings or just the bridge, and we don't know if they want to replace them with another company or if the intention is for the state to take over." | 
