A 20-year-old Erasmus student suddenly fell ill and died while on the phone with her aunt.
Sofia Barillà was alone on Sunday evening (31 May), as her flatmates were out.
According to an initial reconstruction of events, the model was speaking with her aunt Fiorella when she suddenly fell ill and her voice abruptly cut out.
READ MORE: Singer claims she was gaslit and ‘surrounded by security guards’ after complaining about airline
Emergency responders later found her dead in the flat she was renting in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal, the city she had chosen for her six-month Erasmus placement.
The circumstances surrounding Sofia’s death remain unclear, although natural causes are suspected.
An investigation has been opened, and an autopsy is likely to be ordered, as reported by Need To Know.
Sofia was from Palermo, Italy, and had turned 20 just weeks earlier.
A design student, she also worked as a bridalwear model in her spare time and was passionate about music, playing the guitar, and sport, particularly volleyball.
She finished school in 2024 with top marks.
Her former teachers at Liceo Classico G. Garibaldi said: “We will miss your graceful beauty, your curiosity, your sharp wit, and your unquenchable desire to discover, to learn and to think alongside us.
“We watched you grow, sharing an important chapter of your life that you made brighter and more beautiful with your warmth and your smile.”
After finishing school, Sofia took up a place on the Design course at the Polytechnic University of Milan.
She had visited Portugal a year earlier and chose to return there for her Erasmus placement, which she was nearing the end of.
Her father, legal consultant Francesco, her mother, hospital pharmacist Silvana, and her 17-year-old brother have travelled to Portugal.
The Italian embassy and consulate are following the case. At present, the Palermo Public Prosecutor’s Office has not opened a parallel investigation.
READ MORE: Mums scream in fear as crocodile appears in middle of kids’ open-water swimming race
