Eight people injured after car ploughs into crowds in Italy

Four people are in a serious condition.

Police said they arrested the driver, a man in his thirties, after he drove into pedestrians in the city of Modena, reports Sky News.

Four people are in a serious condition, and a woman, who was pinned against a shop window, required the amputation of both legs.

The city's mayor, Massimo Mezzetti, told broadcaster RaiNews24 that the driver is an Italian national who was born in Bergamo and a resident of Modena.

The mayor said: "It seems (the driver) deliberately drove ​onto the sidewalk, hitting several people and ​crashing into a shop window. He then got out of ‌his ⁠car and brandished a knife."

He tried to escape but was stopped by civilians and, later, police.

Authorities are now working to understand if the driver was under the influence of substances or if he acted deliberately.

Witnesses say that the man was holding a knife but didn't manage to stab anybody.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said: "I express my solidarity with those who were injured and ⁠their ​families.

"What happened in Modena is extremely serious."