Italy’s leaders visit victims of Modena car-ramming, stabbing attacks

The attacks carried out by 31-year-old Salim El Khoudri appear related ‘to a situation of psychiatric distress’, according to Italy’s interior minister.

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella have visited victims of car-ramming and stabbing attacks on the main shopping street of the northern city of Modena.

At about 4:30pm local time (14:30 GMT) on Saturday, a 31-year-old man identified as Salim El Koudri drove at high speed through the city centre, hitting more than a dozen people.

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

Two women aged 55 and 69 had their legs amputated, and one of them remains in a life-threatening condition, read a statement released on Sunday by the city prosecutor’s office. The prosecutors added that the attack was carried out “in an indiscriminate, random and deliberate manner”.

The Italian leaders did not release statements following their visits on Sunday to two hospitals where the injured are being treated. The previous day, Meloni called the attack “extremely serious” and thanked the residents who “courageously intervened to stop the perpetrator, and to the police for their intervention”.

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

‘Psychiatric distress’

Speaking to journalists on Sunday, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said that while the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the attack is ongoing, the incident appears related “to a situation of psychiatric distress”.

“Nothing escaped us from the standpoint of counterterrorism prevention,” he added.

Italian broadcaster RaiNews reported that the suspect has shown symptoms of schizoid disorders and had been treated between 2022 and 2024 at a mental health centre in the same province where the incident occurred.

Far-right Deputy Minister Matteo Salvini, whose anti-immigrant League party is a member of the governing coalition, commented on the origins of El Koudri, highlighting that he was an Italian national “of second generation”.

State media reported that two of the four citizens who promptly blocked the attacker from fleeing the scene were Egyptian nationals.

“They are also the symbol of a community that knows, even in such a dramatic moment, how to react, unite and intervene,” Modena’s Mayor Massimo Mezzetti said. “The entire Modena community will have to follow the example of these citizens.”