FOUR children have been detained after allegedly stealing a car and mowing down an elderly woman before fleeing the scene.
Cecilia De Astis, 71, died after being struck by an out-of-control vehicle while walking in the Italian city of Milan on Monday.
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The grandma had just left a lunch at the “House of Solidarity” – run by the Brothers of St. Francis – in her local Gratosoglio neighbourhood when the tragic incident occurred, reports Italian outlet La Stampa.
Local police took four children – aged between 11 and 13 – into custody on suspicion of vehicular homicide aggravated by failure to provide assistance.
The children were identified by the T-shirts they were wearing, which had been caught on surveillance cameras from a nearby shop.
Under Italian law, children under 14 are not criminally liable.
The minors were tracked down at a Roma settlement on Via Selvanesco, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano.
The stolen Citroën reportedly skidded, crashed into a curb and struck De Astis – throwing her several metres into the air – before slamming into a nearby road sign.
The impact was said to have been devastating – despite emergency services’ quick arrival, nothing could be done to save the woman.
Her sons, Gaetano and Filippo, arrived at the scene shortly afterwards and collected the few belongings left scattered on the road – including the face of their mum’s wristwatch.
Originally from Puglia, De Astis had worked for over 30 years as a textile worker at the Cederna cotton mill before retiring, according to La Stampa.
Dozens of messages of condolence have reportedly been posted in a social media group created by former mill employees.
De Astis had dinner with her sons the night before the incident.
“The only blessing is that we managed to have dinner together the night before,” they told the newspaper.
Her granddaughter said: “She was my second mother, we grew up together. She was a good woman. You can’t die like that.”
The stolen Citroën – which had French number plates – reportedly belonged to a 20-year-old from Strasbourg who was visiting Milan with three friends.
He had parked the car about a mile from the scene and gone to visit the Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology with his friends, only to return and find it missing.
He reported it stolen on Sunday evening.
It comes as a popular travel influencer couple who documented their van life adventures online have died in an off-road crash.
Stacey Tourout and Matthew Yeomans reportedly lost control while driving through rough terrain in the mountains near Trout Lake, British Columbia, Canada.
The Canadian couple ran the Toyota World Runners YouTube channel, which had over 200,000 subscribers, and also built a following of 72,000 on Instagram.
News of their deaths was shared by friends and family on social media and confirmed by Kaslo Search and Rescue, who responded to the scene.