Italian PM Meloni meets victims of Modena car incident

MODENA, Italy – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on May 17 visited people wounded by a driver with a history of mental health problems who ran over pedestrians in a city centre in northern Italy.

The driver, an Italian of Moroccan heritage, hit several people before crashing into a shop window, colliding head-on with a woman.

Some far-right politicians quickly seized on the incident as a justification for further tightening controls on immigration, even though the alleged perpetrator is an Italian citizen.

But the city’s centre-left Mayor Massimo Mezzetti pointed out that two Egyptian nationals had helped stop the knife-wielding driver when he tried to run.

Eight people were wounded in the incident in Modena, four of them seriously, including a woman who had to have both legs amputated, officials said.

Ms Meloni cancelled a planned visit to Cyprus to go to Modena, a government source said.

The far-right leader travelled with President Sergio Mattarella to a hospital treating the wounded.

Security camera footage broadcast by Italian media showed a car being driven at high speed into a city centre street packed with pedestrians and cyclists.

‘Psychological disturbance’

The suspect tried to flee the scene but was chased and cornered by four passers-by, then pulled a knife and injured one of them.

The driver, an economics graduate born in 1995 who was not known to the police, went through a spell of “psychological disturbance” in 2022, city prefect Fabrizia Triolo said at a news conference on May 16.

“He had been treated at a mental health centre for schizoid disorders, but we lost track of him after that initial period of observation in a care facility,” she added.

According to the prefect, the driver was not under the influence of “psychotropic substances”.

His home near Modena has been searched but sources quoted in Italian media said the investigation so far has shown no sign of the man’s radicalisation.

The League party, a member of Ms Meloni’s governing coalition, said the incident showed the need for legislation to revoke residency permits for immigrants when they commit crimes.

League leader Matteo Salvini said that the integration of second-generation immigrants in Italy had “failed”.

The city’s mayor said Modena should “unite against those who want to divide and sow hatred” and called for a gathering in the city centre later on May 17 for a “collective embrace”.

Ms Elly Schlein, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, will also visit the city on May 17.

Pedestrians tackled suspect

Ms Meloni wrote on X that the incident was “extremely serious”.

“I would also like to express my thanks to the citizens who courageously intervened to detain the perpetrator, as well as to the law enforcement officers for their response,” she added.

His head bleeding, Mr Luca Signorelli, one of the passers-by who intervened, told Italian TV channels that he “heard impacts and saw people being run over”.

“The car came at me and I managed to throw myself to the ground,” Mr Signorelli added.

“The car was smoking, I opened the door, and he got away; four or five of us ran after him... He pulled out a knife, hit me in the head, and gave another blow to my heart that I managed to avoid.”

Modena Mayor Mezzetti thanked “those citizens who showed courage and civic duty”.

He added: “We need to understand what’s behind this act. But it was a dramatic event.

“I am deeply shaken.” AFP