Driver Injures Eight in Modena Crash

A driver with a history of mental health issues struck multiple pedestrians and cyclists in the northern Italian city of Modena on Saturday, injuring eight people, four of them seriously, authorities said.

Security camera footage aired by Italian media showed a car speeding through a central street crowded with pedestrians and cyclists before hitting several people and crashing into a shop window.

City prefect Fabrizia Triolo said the driver, an Italian man of Moroccan heritage, collided head-on with a woman during the incident. He then attempted to flee but was chased and cornered by four passers-by.

During the confrontation, he pulled out a knife and injured one of them, she added.

Eight people were taken to hospital, including a German and a Polish national. One of the injured required the amputation of both legs, according to the prefect.

Authorities said the driver, born in 1995 and an economics graduate, was not previously known to police. However, he had experienced a period of psychological disturbance in 2022 and had received treatment at a mental health centre for schizoid disorders before being lost to follow-up after initial observation.

He was not under the influence of psychotropic substances at the time of the incident, officials said.

His home near Modena has been searched as investigations continue.