Three Afghan and a Pakistani migrant were found dead in a burned-out van at a petrol station along the SS-106 highway near the village of Amendolara in southern Italy. Firefighters found the four bodies inside the charred vehicle after putting out the blaze, which also affected parts of the filling station.

Local police chief Antonio Borelli was quoted as saying that the gruesome attack is definitely a case of "murder," adding that authorities "just have to work out the details."

The Italian ANSA news agency reported that the victims were burned alive, and the national broadcaster RAI added in a report that the "crime smacks of an execution."

The president of the Calabria Region, Roberto Occhiuto, meanwhile shared CCTV surveillance video from the brutal attack on social media, commenting that "there are news stories that shake one's faith in humanity."

Italy's Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida responded to the events, saying that "(t)here is no place in Italy where human lives can be considered objects to be disposed of or, worse still, to decide when they can live or die."

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Survivor tells all

Crucially, further details of the shocking case seem to be emerging, as another man — also an Afghan national — has come forward with evidence.

The 35-year-old victim told prosecutors that he had survived the ordeal by smashing a window and running away. Later, he was treated for severe burns at a nearby hospital, according to RAI.

The survivor told the La Sicilia newspaper that the apparent motive for the quadruple murder was a dispute over transportation money that day.

The eyewitness also told ANSA that the two Pakistani suspects had previously threatened him and the others with violence to work for them for free, and that the two assailants were part of what he referred to as a "large mafia from Pakistan" trafficking people to work under forced labor conditions in the southern agricultural region.

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"They didn't give us the money. They gave us food, they gave us a house. Bread and potatoes. But no money," he was quoted as saying. 

The German dpa news agency meanwhile added that experts believe these syndicated criminal networks in the region to be closely tied to the 'Ndrangheta, Italy's most powerful mafia, which is also based in Calabria. 

"They wanted to teach us a lesson. They want to make it clear to the farmworkers here in the region that their orders are not to be questioned," the Afghan survivor further elaborated. 

Citing the local public prosecutor's office responsible for the case, ANSA added that the two suspects remain in custody after hours of questioning by the police.

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Over a dozen arson cases in 2026

Officials told the daily Corriere della Sera newspaper that CCTV footage recorded at the scene of the crime showed how two individuals had been blocking the vehicle's doors from the outside and throwing a flammable liquid inside the car. According to dpa, that liquid is believed to be petrol from the service station.

The video images then show a fire breaking out, with the two people running away, according to the reports. It is strongly believed that the two individuals captured in the video are the two who have been arrested.

Corriere della Sera added that there had been a total of 14 cases of arson involving cars and minivans carrying Pakistani nationals in the southern agricultural area in recent months; so far, this is the only known case involving fatalities of its kind.

Investigators have meanwhile announced that they will now also be looking into the deaths of four Indian farmworkers last year, which at the time were ruled to be the result of a traffic accident.

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An estimated 200,000 farm laborers in precarious conditions

Tensions have been rising in Calabria between different groups of migrants over working conditions in the agricultural sector and the overall treatment of foreign agricultural workers, who often have to work illegally, making an average of three euros per hour. 

Agriculture Minister Lollobrigida added that the government was actively fighting labor exploitation practices across the country, including the allocation of additional regular seasonal worker permits.

Currently, there are an estimated 200,000 farm laborers across Italy working under precarious conditions, according to dpa.

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with AFP, AP, dpa