Four migrant workers burned alive in Amendolara, Calabria

Four agricultural laborers – three Afghans and one Pakistani – were set on fire and killed in a van in Amendolara, Calabria. Police detained two Pakistani men, Safeer Ahmed and Ali Raza, both 31, who refused to answer judges during a validation interrogation. Prosecutors are investigating the crime as premeditated murder, with a leading hypothesis that the attack is linked to disputes over control of labor in the region's agricultural sector, often described as "caporalato" (illegal labor recruitment). Surveillance footage from a nearby fuel station and testimony from a forest ranger police officer helped identify the suspects. One survivor, Taji Mohammad Alamyar, escaped with a broken arm and has entered protective custody, alleging that the victims were killed for rebelling against Pakistani criminal groups. Investigators are seeking additional accomplices and a possible motive behind the killings.

The case highlights ongoing concerns about exploitation and violence within Italy's informal migrant labor market, prompting authorities to call for greater attention to the phenomenon of forced labour in Calabria and parts of southern Italy.