CATANZARO, Italy, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- At least seven cyclists were killed in Southern Italy Sunday when a car driven by an immigrant plowed into them, police said.
The driver of the car, Chafik Elketani, 21, was injured and hospitalized, ANSA reported. Police charged him with manslaughter and said he had been driving under the influence of marijuana. His license had been taken away some months ago because of risky driving, the report said.
The group of male bicyclists included several middle-aged and younger men, and basically rode for relaxation on Sundays and holidays. They were struck on an asphalt road that leads from Lamezia Terme to Gizzeria Lido in the Catanzaro area, ANSA reported.
The report said the dead included two lawyers, while a third lawyer was injured.
Elketani lived with his Moroccan family in the Catanzaro area, and he was a legal resident of the country, ANSA said.
The Italian news agency put the dead at seven, but several other news outlets said there were eight killed.
