A man drove his car into pedestrians in the northern Italian city of Modena on Saturday, injuring eight people, four seriously, officials said. They included a woman who had to have both her legs amputated.
After the car came to a halt against a shop window, the driver emerged holding a knife and injured a passer-by who gave chase, before the suspect was overpowered.
The suspect, 31, has been identified by officials as an Italian national of Moroccan origin.
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who cancelled a planned trip to Cyprus and described the incident as 'extremely serious', visited the injured in hospital with President Sergio Mattarella on Sunday.
She also met Luca Signorelli, the passer-by who intervened, and thanked him for his actions. 'What makes an ordinary person heroic is the moment when the heart chooses to do good, even when that involves a risk,' she wrote on X.
The incident occurred around 16:30 (14:30 GMT), when the speeding car hit pedestrians in Via Emilia next to Modena's iconic cathedral. The vehicle then veered left before coming to a halt against a shop window.
Signorelli had told media he was trying to help the woman when he noticed the driver trying to run away. He gave chase, and the driver turned on him with a knife, injuring him before he was restrained.
At a news conference, Modena's prefect Fabrizia Triolo mentioned that the suspect had been referred to a mental health centre in 2022 for 'schizoid disorders'. An eyewitness recounted seeing the car approaching and said it accelerated suddenly - 'it was going at least 100km/h (62mph)'.
The mayor of Modena, Massimo Mezzetti, indicated that the driver seemed to have deliberately targeted pedestrians. Five women and three men were among those injured.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, the suspect, known as Salim El Koudri, is deemed a 'second-generation criminal', though he has no prior criminal record.
