Modena, the man who ran over passers-by accused of massacre

The tragic accidentoccurred around 4.30 p.m. on Saturday 16 May: many people were run over along the road in the centre of Modena, which was very crowded on Saturday afternoon. The man driving escaped, even wounding a person who wanted to stop him with a knife, but was then blocked at the crossroads between rua Pioppa and corso Adriano. Four or five people chased and helped capture the man, handing him over to the police. This was explained by Mayor Massimo Mezzetti: "I want to thank these citizens. The man was also armed with a knife, they had courage and great civic sense. My strong thanks go to them in this dramatic moment".

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is following what happened in Modena with the utmost attention and is in constant contact with Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi and with Undersecretary to the Prime Minister with responsibility for the Republic's security, Alfredo Mantovano. This was reported by Palazzo Chigi sources, while the Prime Minister is attending the Europe Gulf Forum in Navarino, Greece.

Forze dell'ordine e di soccorso dopo che un'auto a velocità sostenuta ha falciato una decina di persone a piedi, in centro a Modena, 16 maggio 2026. Ci sono feriti, alcuni in modo grave.. ANSA/GIORGIA BASSOLI

"We have to understand the nature, but it is a dramatic act, I am deeply affected," said the mayor who arrived at the scene of the accident, "whatever the nature, it is very serious. If it were a attack it would be even more serious'. According to the first testimonies, the first citizen explained, the car driven by a person of North African origin "aimed at the pavement, also hitting a bicycle and then crashed, hitting a woman, who is the most serious, with her legs crushed". "They saw him with a weapon in his hand but he did not manage to stab anyone. Apparently he tried to hit someone."

The most serious is a 55-year-old woman, after being hit by the Citroen C3 gone mad she was lying under a shop window of a clothing shop, with some passers-by trying to give her first aid by handing her some water. Her legs were amputated by the crash, she was taken by helicopter to the Maggiore hospital in Bologna, and it is difficult to say whether the situation will be stabilised. Eight people were injured in the afternoon of terror in the centre of Modena, five women and three men. Four are serious, three much less so. According to the balance provided by Ausl sources at Modena's Baggiovara hospital, a 53-year-old woman and a 69-year-old woman are hospitalised in serious condition, while a 69-year-old man is less worried. At the Maggiore hospital in Bologna, the 55-year-old woman is the most seriously injured, while the condition of a 52-year-old man is less worrying, although serious: both are still in intensive care. Three other people, a 27-year-old, a 71-year-old and a 47-year-old are in a non-serious condition at the Policlinico di Modena.

People who simply had the misfortune to be in the wrong place at the moment when 30-year-old Salim El Koudri accelerated, aiming at two different points on the pavement, in a section of the restricted traffic zone of Via Emilia Centro, the Ghirlandina in the background and people shopping and having aperitifs in the streets alongside. Also injured was Luca Signorelli, one of the witnesses who later helped to stop the driver. 'While I was trying to help the lady with the amputated legs,' he explained to reporters, his head still dripping with blood, 'he ran away. So I chased him, meanwhile four or five 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'. "Two slashes came at me, one in the heart and the other in the head. A scuffle started,' Signorelli recounts, 'One slash I managed to avoid, the other I caught. Then I blocked his wrist. And then I neutralised him'. He was also helped by other passers-by.

"Salim El Koudri. This is the name of the 'second-generation' criminal who mowed down innocent bystanders with his car at breakneck speed today in Modena. Stopped by brave citizens despite carrying a knife, he was arrested. There can be no justification for such an infamous crime'. Thus on X the leader of the League and vice-premier Matteo Salvini. "We are close to the entire Modena community and grateful to the rescuers and medical personnel for their delicate work in these hours. Gratitude that we also express to the police and to those citizens who courageously pursued and stopped the person responsible for what from the first information seems to be a voluntary act of unprecedented violence'. Thus PD secretary Elly Schlein. "The entire 5 Star Movement rallies round the Modena community, the injured, and their families. We thank the people who intervened with courage and civic sense to help stop the perpetrators of this despicable attack immediately, the rescuers and the police on the scene". This was written on social media by M5s leader Giuseppe Conte.