Full story
Modena attack, leaders visit
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella visited victims of a car-ramming and stabbing attack on the main shopping street of Modena, after a 31-year-old man identified as Salim El Koudri drove at high speed through the city centre and hit more than a dozen people at about 4:30pm local time on Saturday.
“At about 4:30pm local time (14:30 GMT) on Saturday, a 31-year-old man identified as Salim El Koudri drove at high speed”
The attacker also stabbed a pedestrian before being stopped by a group of passers-by, and ANSA reported that eight people were taken to hospital in serious condition.
The city prosecutor’s office said the prosecutors added that the attack was carried out “in an indiscriminate, random and deliberate manner,” and it reported that two women aged 55 and 69 had their legs amputated with one remaining in a life-threatening condition.
The Italian leaders did not release statements following their visits on Sunday to two hospitals where the injured are being treated, after Meloni had called the attack “extremely serious” and thanked residents who “courageously intervened to stop the perpetrator, and to the police for their intervention.”
Psychiatric distress debate
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi told journalists on Sunday that while the investigation is ongoing, the incident appears related “to a situation of psychiatric distress,” and he added that “Nothing escaped us from the standpoint of counterterrorism prevention.”
Italian broadcaster RaiNews reported that the suspect has shown symptoms of schizoid disorders and had been treated between 2022 and 2024 at a mental health centre in the same province where the incident occurred.
DW reported that Modena Mayor Massimo Mezzetti said the driver tried to flee after the car crashed into a shop window, and he told local media, “Whatever the nature, it is a very serious act.”
DW also quoted city prefect Fabrizia Triolo saying, “He had been treated at a mental health center for schizoid disorders, but we lost track of him after that initial period of observation in a care facility,” while police said they arrested the driver and took him to headquarters for questioning.
Motive, accountability, and aftermath
Italian prosecutors said the suspect is under investigation for attempted massacre and personal injury, and they described the attack as “in an indiscriminate, random and deliberate manner” while efforts continued to determine the motive behind the incident.
“They said the man struck pedestrians in the crowded city centre, which has more than 180,000 residents”
The BBC reported that Meloni cancelled a planned trip to Cyprus and visited the injured in hospital with President Sergio Mattarella on Sunday, and it said she also met Luca Signorelli, the passer-by who intervened, and thanked him for his actions.
In Modena, the mayor Massimo Mezzetti said the incident appeared the driver “deliberately drove on to the pavement, hitting several people and crashing into a shop window,” and he said the suspect was born in the province of Bergamo and lives in the province of Modena.
The BBC added that the suspect was identified as an Italian national of Moroccan origin, and it quoted an eyewitness saying, “We saw the car approaching, it was heading for the kerb. ”