Italian leaders visit the victims of the Modena car, stabbing people | Story

The attacks by 31-year-old Salim El Khoudri appear to be linked to mental illness, according to Italy’s interior minister.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella visit victims of car accidents and stabbings on a highway in the northern city of Modena.

Around 4:30pm local time (14:30 GMT) on Saturday, a 31-year-old man named Salim El Koudri drove at high speed in the center of the city, hitting more than a dozen people.

The assailant also stabbed a pedestrian before being stopped by a group of passers-by. Eight people were taken to hospital in critical condition, state news agency ANSA reported.

Two women aged 55 and 69 had their legs amputated, and one of them is in danger of her life, read a statement released on Sunday by the prosecutor’s office. The prosecutors added that the attack was “indiscriminate, random and deliberate”.

Italian leaders did not issue a statement after visiting two hospitals on Sunday where the injured are being treated. The day before, Melon to be invited the attack was “very serious” and he thanked the residents who “intervened bravely to stop the perpetrator, and the police for their intervention”.

El Koudri was born in the northern province of Bergamo to a family from Morocco, according to ANSA.

‘Depression’

Speaking to the press on Sunday, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said that although the investigation into the circumstances of the attack is ongoing, the incident appears to be related to “psychological problems”.

“Nothing has escaped us when it comes to counter-terrorism,” he added.

Italian journalist RaiNews reported that the suspect showed symptoms of schizoid and was treated between 2022 and 2024 at a psychiatric hospital in the same region where the incident took place.

Right-wing Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, whose anti-immigrant party is a member of the ruling coalition, comments at the beginning of El Koudri, showing that he was an Italian “second generation”.

Later, the Mayor of Modena Massimo Mezzetti emphasis that two of the four citizens who prevented the attacker from fleeing the scene were from other countries.

“They are also a symbol of the community that knows, even in the most difficult times, how to act, unite and intervene,” he said. “The entire community of Modena should follow the example of these citizens.”