By Tariq Tahir
A GIRL who fled Ukraine was killed when a driver allegedly ploughed into her and a 16-year-old boy who was carrying her, it was reported.
Police in Italy say five-year-old Tasia had arrived in the country just a month ago with mum Luda after being forced to flee in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Tasia died after being hit by a car in Italy[/caption]
Cops are investigating whether she was deliberately run down[/caption]
But she died when the she was struck by a van driven by an 18-year-old in the Crotone area of southern Italy and cops now are investigating it was deliberate.
Tasia was out walking with her 16-year-old cousin and the girl’s boyfriend, who was holding the youngster, reports Corriere.
As part of their investigation, police are looking at whether driver of the orange Fiat Doblo was involved in a personal dispute with the other teenagers.
One line of investigation is whether the driver was a love rival of the 16-year-old boy.
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He was arrested on the orders of the local prosecutor and has been charged with aggravated road homicide.
The horror collision happened on Sunday evening in the town of Cantorato, where Taia and her family are being hosted at a farm where Luda’s sister works.
The two 16-year-olds left the farmhouse for an evening stroll, carrying little Tasia with them.
As they walked single file down a road that they were spotted by the driver at around 6.30pm and he swung around and allegedly accelerated towards them, with his dad in the front seat.
The boy was from behind and ended up on the car’s windscreen.
Tasia was thrown out of his arms and crashed down onto the ground, banging her head and killing her instantly.
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He suffered head injuries and fractured bones and his girlfriend suffered no injuries.
The driver’s called the ambulance and reportedly said he was driving with what happened an accident.
But police who began looking at the background to the incident soon began to suspect there was more to it and soon ascertained who was driving, says Corriere.
The suspect had twice been reported for driving without a license, in March and August 2020.
Mayor of Crotone, Vincenzo Voce, said he was “devastated” by Tasia’s death and just a few days ago he had welcomed “children who escaped from a terrible war”.
“There are no words. Just a deep pain. A pain that unites the whole city community,” he wrote on Facebook.
On March 13, another Ukrainian refugee died after a bus carrying around 50 refugees veered off a motorway and overturned in Italy.
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Several people are also reportedly injured following the crash early this morning on the A14 highway in the Emilia-Romagna region.
Italy’s Interior Ministry said the bus had set out from Ukraine and was heading south to Pescara, an Adriatic port city, when it overturned.
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Source: Girl, five, who fled war in Ukraine killed after driver ‘ploughed into her and 16-year-old lad’
Category: News, World News
