7 injured as driver in Italian city runs over pedestrians

The mayor said the driver, reportedly in his 30s and seen holding a knife, did not manage to stab anyone and appeared to have been attempting to hit someone
- PUBLISHED: Sat 16 May 2026, 9:15 PM
- By:
- AFP
A driver injured seven people, two of them badly, when he drove on a sidewalk in the northern Italian city of Modena on Saturday and then got out, possibly holding a knife, the mayor said.
Early eyewitness accounts said the driver, aged in his 30s, apparently "aimed for the sidewalk, hitting a bike, then crashed while slamming head-on into a woman, badly hurt with both legs crushed," mayor Massimo Mezzetti told local media and the ANSA news agency.
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"He was seen with a knife in his hand, but he didn't manage to stab anyone. It seems like he was trying to hit someone," the mayor said.
He added that the circumstances of the incident were still unclear.
"We need to understand what's behind this act. But it was a dramatic event. I am deeply shaken. Whatever it was, it was extremely serious. If it turns out to be an attack, that would be even more serious," Mezzetti said.



