Six German tourists killed by suspected drunk driver in Italy

[webfact]

Six German tourists killed by suspected drunk driver in Italy

By Stephen Jewkes

 

Firefighters attend to the scene where a male driver of a car hit a group of German tourists, killing six in Lutago, Italy January 5, 2020. Vigili del Fuoco Lutago/Handout via REUTERS

 

MILAN (Reuters) - Six German tourists were killed on Sunday when a suspected drunk driver crashed his car into a group of people in a town in northern Italy, police said.

 

Eleven others were injured, some seriously, during the early hours in the small town of Luttach in South Tyrol, known as Lutago in Italian, a police spokesman said.

 

The 27-year-old driver of the car, a German-made coupe, failed a breath test for alcohol, registering more than four times the maximum level, the spokesman said. He was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter.

 

According to the website of Italian daily Corriere della Sera, when told in hospital of the scale of the incident the driver said he wanted to commit suicide.

 

The victims, all in their early 20s, were on a group skiing holiday and were mostly from the northwest German state of North-Rhine Westphalia, state premier Armin Laschet told a news conference.

 

"People in our country are thinking and praying for the victims and their families," Laschet said.

 

The tourists were close to a parked bus that had brought them back from a night out when the car crashed into them, sending bodies flying into the air.

 

"It was like a scene from a battlefield," one fireman told local press.

 

Around 160 people from various emergency services were involved in the rescue operation.

 

"The new year unfortunately has started with a huge tragedy," said the governor of Alto Adige, Arno Kompatscher.

 

Late on Sunday four of the injured remained in a serious condition, the police spokesman said. But he added around half of the tourists caught up in the incident had already left to return home.

 

(Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Kevin Liffey and David Holmes)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-01-06

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[RichardColeman]

Wonder what country the perp will claim diplomatic immunity from

[robblok]

Alcohol, the legal harddrug that keeps on giving. Then you got people on Thaivisa complaining about alcohol checks. 

 

If you are caught with alcohol after an accident (where someone dies) you should be charged with murder. Same goes for other drugs too of course. 

[bluesofa]

There seems to be some irony that the Reuters report had to mention it was "a German-made coupe".

[MarineEquine]

37 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

Would it be improper to ask what religious group the driver was affiliated to ?

Yes. 

[MarineEquine]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

when told in hospital of the scale of the incident the driver said he wanted to commit suicide.

The state should assist him. 

[Mac98]

3 hours ago, robblok said:

Alcohol, the legal harddrug that keeps on giving. Then you got people on Thaivisa complaining about alcohol checks. 

 

If you are caught with alcohol after an accident (where someone dies) you should be charged with murder. Same goes for other drugs too of course. 

As many highway deaths are caused by sleepy drivers. Death penalty for not pulling over? Why not? What about for being stupid? That's a win win. Being a show off and killing people? That's the worst. Put them in one of those Hollywood cars that always explode when it goes off a cliff, then find a cliff. Anyway, murder has different degrees. This wasn't planned. Manslaughter is correct, but the penalties handed down by judges in these cases need to be pushed to the limits, or at least what you can get for smoking pot in Texas.

[robblok]

2 minutes ago, Mac98 said:

As many highway deaths are caused by sleepy drivers. Death penalty for not pulling over? Why not? What about for being stupid? That's a win win. Being a show off and killing people? That's the worst. Put them in one of those Hollywood cars that always explode when it goes off a cliff, then find a cliff. Anyway, murder has different degrees. This wasn't planned. Manslaughter is correct, but the penalties handed down by judges in these cases need to be pushed to the limits, or at least what you can get for smoking pot in Texas.

I find that being sleepy is different then drunk. But yes both are dangerous. However when you drink and drive you know what your doing.Sleep can creep up on you. So its different. Showing off sure if it can be proven.

 

Yes I know its not planned however you take a huge risk when you drink and drive. Your playing with the lives of other people. If drunk drivers just killed themselves id say let them.

[KhunBENQ]

No room for conspiracy, terrorism etc.

Just a local guy named Stefan drunk as a skunk speeding at the wheel of an Audi TT.

1.98‰ (~198 mg), almost four times the limit. Some would not even be able to start the engine under this condition.

 

Main difference to Thailand: up to 18 years imprisonment.

[overherebc]

23 hours ago, bluesofa said:

There seems to be some irony that the Reuters report had to mention it was "a German-made coupe".

To prevent speculation it was an Italian 'supercar' being driven by a rich kid who would flee the scene????????