Italy PM Meloni heads to Modena after car-ramming, cancels Cyprus meeting

MILAN: Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will travel to Modena on Sunday, a day after several ​people were injured in a car-ramming incident there, cancelling ‌a meeting in Nicosia with Cyprus’ president in order to make the trip, government sources said.

Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella will ​also travel to the Italian northern city, ​the sources added.

A 30-year-old man, born in Italy ⁠and of North African origin, drove a car into ​a crowd in the city centre on Saturday, injuring ​eight people, four of them seriously.

The man attempted to flee and stabbed one of three passersby who tried to stop ​him. He was later arrested by police.

Modena’s prosecutors said ​in a statement on Sunday that the suspect is under investigation ‌for ⁠massacre and personal injury, adding that efforts are under way to establish the motive behind his actions.

At least eight injured as car rams into pedestrians in Italian city of Modena

They said the man struck pedestrians in the crowded city ​centre, which has ​more than ⁠180,000 residents, “in an indiscriminate, random and deliberate manner”.

“The man had received treatment for ​mental health issues in 2022 due to ​schizoid ⁠personality disorder, after which he went off the radar,” Modena’s mayor, Massimo Mezzetti, told broadcaster RaiNews24 late on Saturday.

Among ⁠those ​seriously injured, two had suffered ​the loss of their legs, with one in a life-threatening condition, the ​prosecutors added.