A man has allegedly killed a teenage migrant by striking him repeatedly in the face and head with a bike chain lock after a petty dispute over a pot of rice.
The vicious assault on Gambian national, Nafugi Manneh, took place in a square in front of several bystanders.
Manneh, 19, and other Gambian migrants had reportedly been in a long-running dispute with a group of Pakistani migrants.
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A fight between the two groups erupted in the centre of Canelli, north-western Italy, on Tuesday (30 Apr) evening.
Emergency medics took Manneh to a hospital in Alessandria by air ambulance.
The victim spent hours in a coma in the ICU before tragically dying on Wednesday evening (1 May).
The prime suspect, Muhammad Waqar, 24, has been arrested on suspicion of voluntary manslaughter, as reported on Need To Know.
Waqar was caught by the police as he rode back to the migrant shelter in nearby Cassinasco on his bicycle.
A witness said: “He [the suspect] made it [the lock] swirl in the air like a lasso. The blood was spurting like a fountain.”
Officers seized the bloodstained chain lock, which was found wrapped around the suspect’s bike, under the saddle.
The trouble had started the week before, when Manneh allegedly confronted Waqar for washing his hands in the sink near the stove.
Soapy water allegedly splashed in the pot where the Gambian was cooking rice, leading to the two trading insults.
Officials have ordered the transfer of all the Gambian migrants from Cassinasco to another reception centre for fear of reprisals.
The investigation continues.
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