Deadly attack on migrants highlights issue of labour abuse in Italy

ROME - Four migrants working as fruit pickers in slave-like conditions in southern Italy have been burned to death in a grisly murder case that is prompting fresh national soul-searching over labour exploitation.

The migrants were found on Monday in a burned-out van parked in a petrol station in Amendolara, in the southern region of Calabria. Surveillance cameras showed two people setting the car alight before running away.

"In 30 years of work, I have never seen such cruelty," public prosecutor Alessandro D'Alessio, who is leading the investigation, told reporters on Wednesday.

The sole survivor, Taj Mohammad Alamyar, said the migrants were being driven home by their two Pakistani gangmasters after a day's work picking strawberries.

They stopped at the petrol station but instead of refuelling, they doused the car with petrol and set it alight after locking the passengers inside, Alamyar said, adding that he managed to escape via the boot.

"We started screaming, but they opened the back door and threw a lighter inside. In an instant, it was hell," he told La Repubblica newspaper.

Roberto Occhiuto, Calabria's regional president, said Italy had profound lessons to learn from the episode.

"It is an appalling story, which shakes our consciences and raises profound questions about the tragedy of migration, the value of human dignity, and the responsibilities a civilised society must assume toward the most vulnerable," he said.

€45 FOR EIGHT HOURS' WORK

Labour exploitation of immigrants is a chronic problem in Italy, sometimes with deadly consequences. According to the Placido Rizzotto Observatory think tank, about 30% of farm workers were working off the books in 2023.

In interviews with several Italian media outlets, the survivor of Monday's attack appeared with bandages on his hands and right arm. He said three of the dead were fellow Afghans, while the fourth was Pakistani.

Prosecutors from the nearby town of Castrovillari said two foreign nationals had been detained on suspicion of committing multiple and aggravated murder.

The suspects were not named, and it was not possible for Reuters to obtain comments from them.

Alamyar said the fruit pickers had argued with their gangmasters over money. He said they were promised a daily pay of €45 ($52) for eight hours' work, but had received no money since April 20.

($1 = 0.8610 euros)

(Reporting by Mirko Miorelli, Sara Rossi and Alvise Armellini, writing by Francesca Piscioneri, Editing by Crispian Balmer and Keith Weir)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 8:34 AM.