Investigators in Rome were on
Thursday probing a fatal car crash in the southern neighbourhood
of Casal Palocco Wednesday amid reports that that the driver and
four passengers travelling on the Lamborghini SUV that crashed
into a Smart, killing a five-year-old boy and seriously injuring
his mother and younger sister, were filming a video for a
YouTube challenge at the time of the accident.
The driver, Matteo Di Pietro, aged 20, is being probed for
vehicular homicide and injury, and investigators are also
examining the position of the four passengers.
All reportedly belonged to the Roman collective The Borderline,
which films and posts "absurd and unique" videos on its YouTube
channel, followed by 600,000 subscribers.
Uploaded content includes challenges ranging from "24 hours on a
miniature raft" to "How long can you last in ice" to
"Hide-and-seek in the medieval castle" and "Live 50 hours in a
Tesla".
It seems Wednesday's challenge was to stay a few days in a
Lamborghini SUV.
The young victim has been named as Manuel Proietti.
"I was in the house when I heard a terrifying bang and I went
outside," said Lucia, 50, who lives a few metres from the site
of the crash.
"Within minutes a lot of people rushed up and a man tried to
give the boy mouth-to-mouth resuscitation," she continued,
describing the scene as "gruesome".
Local residents have placed flowers, soft toys and rainbow
pinwheels at nearby trees.
"This is a very serious issue in which questions of repression
intersect with those of prevention," Interior Minister Matteo
Piantedosi told SkyTg24 on Thursday. Piantedosi said he and
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini are working
on a "series of initiatives" to support repression with
awareness-raising activities on the risks of certain behavior at
the wheel.
For his part Salvini said repeat driving offenders who are to
blame for fatal crashes should lose their driver's license for
life.
"A five-year-old boy died just outside Rome, apparently a social
media challenge involving 5 YouTubers in a Lamborghini was
taking place and they crushed this child," said Salvini, who is
also deputy premier in the centre-right government led by
Premier Giorgia Meloni.
"If you are a repeat offender and take a person's life because
you are a jerk behind the wheel, you don't see your license for
the rest of your life, it's not like I suspend it for a few
months," continued Salvini, addressing a meeting of the
confederation of Italian cooperatives Confcooperative on Italy's
new highway code.
Over 3,000 people died in car crashes in Italy last year.
Over 200 have died in drink and drugs fuelled weekend crashes
this year, almost 100 of whom were under the age of 35.
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