Prosecutors in the northern Italian city of Forlì are probing an ambulance driver on suspicion of killing five senior patients.
All the questionable deaths occurred while or shortly after the patients were being moved in an ambulance driven by the 27‑year‑old, the victims’ lawyers told CuriosityNews.
Sources familiar with the investigation told the ANSA news agency they think the man, who was employed by the Italian Red Cross but has now been suspended, may have given harmful substances to the patients during transfers between hospitals and care homes in the Emilia‑Romagna region.
Authorities are also reviewing further cases, raising the possibility that the tally of potential victims could increase as the probe widens.
The latest case under scrutiny involves an 85‑year‑old woman who suffered cardiac arrest in November 2025. The four other suspicious deaths date back to February.
All the patients experienced cardiac arrests while being conveyed in the ambulance based in Forlimpopoli, near Forlì. One died en route, the others either shortly thereafter or in the following days.
For months, none of the relatives—most of whom assumed their loved ones were seriously ill—voiced concerns. It was only after one family requested an autopsy that doubts began to surface.
“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 for 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 was traveling from a residential care facility to a physiotherapy session when she died in the ambulance.
Prosecutors have placed the driver under investigation for aggravated murder, alleging premeditation and the use of poisonous substances or other covert means. He has not been arrested or detained.
The local branch of the Italian Red Cross was informed of the inquiry four days ago and the driver was suspended from duty.
In a statement, the organisation 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 that the ongoing inquiry would clarify 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 denied the allegations and was “deeply shaken”. He had made himself immediately available to prosecutors, she added.
“We are talking about elderly people who were terminally ill,” Parigi said.
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