Terror not ruled out as 8 injured after suspect plows car into crowd, stabs man who tried to stop him from fleeing scene in Italy
At least eight people were injured Saturday in Modena, Italy when a crazed driver rammed his car into a crowd at full speed — and then knifed a hero who stopped him when he tried to flee following his cowardly act.
The man has been identified by authorities as Salim el Koudri, a 31-year-old Italian citizen of Moroccan origin.
The motive is not yet known, but a terrorist attack is not being ruled out, Italian newspaper La Pressa reported.
El Koudri accelerated suddenly then zigzagged erratically on Via Emilia in the northern Italian city around 4:30 pm, mowing down at least four pedestrians.“He was going at least a hundred kilometers per hour, we saw people flying,” said one witness, Il Messagero reported.
He crashed his silver Citroen C3 into a storefront window, crushing a 52-year-old woman between the car’s front end and the shop.
She was taken to the hospital in critical condition, and will likely have both legs amputated, authorities reported.
After crashing, the knife-wielding maniac tried to run but was chased down by a crowd that included Luca Signorelli, who was viciously gashed in the head during the scuffle, Italian media reported.
“He disappeared behind a row of cars and then suddenly reappeared with a knife in his hand,” Signorelli told reporters, his head still dripping with blood.
“He was babbling something, but it wasn’t Italian. Two slashing blows came at me—one aimed at the heart, the other at the head. A scuffle broke out,” he recounted.
“I managed to dodge one of the strikes, but the other one hit me. Then I pinned his wrist. And then I neutralized him.”
In all, at least eight people have been injured – five women and three men, according to the mayor, who thanked Signorelli and the others for helping catch the lunatic.
“My huge thanks go to them for the courage and civic sense they had,” said Modena Mayor Massimo Mezzetti, who rushed to the scene after the attack.
“It is a dramatic event. I am deeply shaken,” he added.
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