On May 16, 2026, a driver deliberately rammed pedestrians in Modena, Italy, injuring 8 people and later attacking a pedestrian with a knife during his escape.[1][3][4][5]
Attack
At approximately 16:30 p.m, a person in a grey Citroën C3 drove at high speed about 100km/h, first on the road, hitting a person on a bicycle and then onto the sidewalk, running into a group of pedestrians, with an impact so violent that people were thrown into the air in via Emilia, Modena, Italy[1][6]
Victims
Eight people were injured, four critically.[3][1] Victims were taken to hospitals in Modena and Bologna, with those critically injured being evacuated by helicopter.[3]
the impact with the car was so strong that a female victim had both of her legs severed.[1] Another victim had his legs amputated.[7]
Perpetrator
The driver was a 31-year-old Italian man of Moroccan origin Salim El Koudri.[1]
The perpetrator is blocked by pedestrians or people while Salim El Koudri attempts to stabbing and killing an pedestrian of them in 11 seconds.[8][2][9][10]
Salim El Koudri, an economics graduate with an clear criminal record, unemployed and has been suffering by severe schizoid mental disorders since 2022.[11]
Investigation
Police detained the driver of the vehicle, a 31-year-old Italian man of Moroccan origin Salim El Koudri who was born in Bergamo and raised in Modena.[3][1] Authorities noted they were investigating whether the driver had been under the influence of drugs, and whether the act was deliberate.[3]
During the evening, at a press conference, the Prefect of Modena Fabrizia Triolo denied that the perpetrator was under the influence of psychotropic substances and that he had committed a deliberate act, adding that in 2022 the perpetrator had shown signs of serious schizoid mental disorders.[2][12]
Prosecutor of Republic Luca Masini[13] declared that "there is a clear and evident intent to endanger public safety, not just the lives of the individual victims, in a central city street and in a seamless space and time".[14]
