Terror has invaded the city of Modena, shocked by a crazy attack. On a normal afternoon of shopping and walking in the centre, a car traveling at breakneck speed hit and mowed down some pedestrians, injuring eight people, five women and three men. “It was going at least 100 mph, we saw people flying,” the witnesses said. After stopping the car, the man came out with the knife in his hand and threw himself at the people present, seriously injuring a man, before being stopped by the courageous intervention of some passers-by, in particular four people who chased him, grabbed him, threw him to the ground and handed him over to the police.
The perpetrator of the tragic attack is called Salim Elkoudri, he is 31 years old, he is Italian of Moroccan origin, second generation. We know that he was born in Bergamo but lives in the Modena area, that he has been under psychiatric care and that he has a clean criminal record. He was not found to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Nothing is yet known about the reasons for this wicked action and investigations are underway.
Among the injured, four are serious. Two are very serious: among them a 55-year-old lady who, struck head-on by the speeding car, lost both her legs in the impact, crushed by the car. Luca Signorelli, the man who hunted down the author of the investment, told journalists, still with his head dripping with blood: «While I try to help the lady with the amputated legs he (the investor, ed.) runs away. So I chased him, meanwhile 4-5 other people came after me. He disappeared behind a pile of cars and then emerged with a knife in his hand. He was babbling something but he wasn’t Italian.”
The mayor of Modena Massimo Mezzetti thanked the citizens who attended: «They had courage and great civic sense». The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola sent a message in which she said she was deeply affected by what happened in Modena and expressed her closeness to the injured people.
