️ Prosecutors in the northern Italian city of Forlì are investigating a 27-year-old ambulance driver on suspicion of murdering five elderly patients.
️ All suspicious deaths occurred while or soon after the patients were transported in an ambulance driven by the man, victims' lawyers told the Guardian.
️ Investigative sources told the ANSA state news agency they believe the man, who worked for the Italian Red Cross but has been suspended, may have administered harmful substances to patients during transfers between hospitals and care homes in the Emilia-Romagna region.
️ Authorities are examining additional cases, raising concerns that the number of potential victims could rise as the inquiry widens.
️ The most recent case under investigation involves an 85-year-old woman who died of cardiac arrest in November 2025.
️ All patients suffered cardiac arrests while being transported in an ambulance based in Forlimpopoli, near Forlì. One died en route, the others shortly afterwards or in the following days.
️ For months, no relatives—most of whom believed their loved ones were gravely ill—raised concerns. Suspicions began only after one victim's family reportedly requested an autopsy.
️ “It is important to stress that these are not ordinary ambulances with sirens blaring for patients rushing to hospital,” said Max Starni and Massimo Mambelli, lawyers representing the family of the patient who died in November.
️ They added: “These ambulances are generally used for routine transport… for example taking patients from a care home to hospital for an appointment. That is why there are only two drivers on board, and no nurse.”
️ In the case handled by Starni and Mambelli, the elderly woman died in the ambulance while travelling from a residential care facility to a physiotherapy session.
️ Prosecutors have placed the driver under investigation for aggravated murder, alleging premeditation and use of poisonous substances or other insidious means. He has not been arrested or placed in custody.
️ The local branch of the Italian Red Cross was notified of the investigation four days ago, and the driver was suspended from duty.
️ In a statement, the organization said it had “learned with shock of the reports concerning the involvement of one of our operators in a serious criminal matter” and expressed hope the inquiry would shed light on what it described as a tragic episode “entirely alien to the mission of our association in Italy and around the world, and to the work of the 150,000 volunteers who every day support those in need”.
️ The suspect's lawyer, Gloria Parigi, told la Repubblica her client denies the allegations and is “deeply shaken”. He made himself immediately available to prosecutors, she added.
️ “We are talking about elderly people who were terminally ill,” Parigi said. “Only one died in the ambulance; the others passed away in the days that followed, in one case as long as 13 days after the transfer. All five experienced respiratory crises during the journey, but on each occasion a medical response vehicle intervened.”
Source: www.theguardian.com