Passenger films fatal crash scene and laughs on Instagram, later calls police over crowd outside his home

The collision on the Aurelia

Around midnight between Friday and Saturday, a Fiat 500 struck a scooter carrying two young women along the Aurelia road in Ceriale, a small town in Savona province. The impact threw both riders off the scooter and destroyed the two-wheeled vehicle. Sofia Barberi, the 23-year-old daughter of the municipality’s social services councillor Barbara De Stefano, died shortly after being taken in critical condition to the Santa Corona hospital in Pietra Ligure. Her friend, identified as E.B. or Elena B., survived but underwent emergency surgery during which one foot was amputated; she remains in intensive care with a guarded prognosis.

The driver and the investigation

The Fiat 500 was driven by a 19-year-old woman who had obtained her licence only three months earlier. She was identified by Carabinieri at the scene and tested for alcohol and drugs; the results were reportedly negative. Her licence was immediately revoked and she was charged with road homicide and very serious personal injuries. Investigators from the Ceriale Carabinieri station, coordinated by the Savona Public Prosecutor’s Office, are reconstructing the dynamics of the violent front-side collision. They have collected witness statements and analysed footage from the municipal video-surveillance system, which captured the crash. The body of Sofia Barberi has been transferred to the hospital morgue; a post-mortem examination will be ordered in the coming days, as is standard procedure.

A video posted as victims lay on the ground

While the two women were still on the asphalt, a male passenger in the Fiat 500 used his phone to record a video and uploaded it to Instagram. In the short clip he can be heard laughing as he says:

I swear, this one’s dead … we wrecked everything tonight, bro. A month without work, brother, they charged us with attempted murder.

The video spread quickly, causing widespread shock. Hours later the same young man posted a second video with an apology.

I hadn’t realised how serious things were, I’m an idiot. I’m ashamed of myself.

He later added that he had been drunk and did not understand the situation. The Instagram account associated with the nickname used for the original video has since been removed. The video itself has been attached to the case file sent to the prosecutor.

Fear and a call to the Carabinieri

On Friday evening, a small crowd gathered outside the young man’s home. Feeling threatened, he dialled 112. Carabinieri intervened and dispersed the group. The incident adds a further layer to a case that has deeply shaken the local community.

The reaction from local authorities

Marco Melgrati, the mayor of nearby Alassio, issued a statement expressing solidarity with councillor Barbara De Stefano, the family of Sofia, and the entire community of Ceriale.

In this senseless tragedy, whose contours that emerged after the accident leave us dismayed, the only hope we can cling to is represented by the many young people who every day bear witness to responsibility, respect, sensitivity and attention towards others. We look to them with confidence, not to overcome a wound that will remain indelible, but to transform the pain into a seed capable of making a greater culture of respect, responsibility and safety grow.