Bologna Fakir case: 118 chief says a doctor could save him

Abderrahim Fakir, 42, died in Bologna on July 19 after police restrained him face-down. Italy's 118 emergency chief, Mario Balzanelli, says a doctor on scene could likely have sedated him and saved his life. Prosecutors are probing the prone hold and why an ambulance without a physician was sent.

Key Takeaways

• Mario Balzanelli told ANSA a prompt 118 doctor could likely have saved Fakir through sedation.
• He called police prone restraint with face and chest pressed to the ground wrong and potentially lethal.
• An ambulance with four Red Cross volunteers and no doctor reached via Svevo; death was declared at 12:53.
• Bologna prosecutors are reviewing Interior Ministry restraint guidelines and the 118 dispatch.

What happened in Bologna's Pilastro district?

Abderrahim Fakir, a 42-year-old Moroccan man, died on Sunday, July 19, in the Pilastro neighborhood of Bologna during a police intervention on via Italo Svevo. According to a minute-by-minute reconstruction by Corriere della Sera, neighbors heard him shouting for help from mid-morning. A 112 call around midday described a man running, kicking garage doors, and yelling that someone wanted to kill him.

A patrol from the Bolognina station arrived at 12:15. Two minutes later, emergency dispatch sent ambulance "Bologna 65" as a green code—meaning non-critical. The vehicle reached the courtyard at 12:30 with four Red Cross volunteers and no doctor on board.

Why does the 118 chief say Fakir could have been saved?

Speaking to ANSA, Mario Balzanelli, president of Italy's Società italiana sistema 118, said that with a doctor arriving promptly, "with high probability Abderrahim Fakir could have been saved." Faced with strong psychomotor agitation, he argued, a physician could have sedated Fakir to protect him and prevent worse outcomes.

Balzanelli also condemned the officers' prone restraint with face and chest pressed to the ground as "wrong, risky and never indicated," warning it can be lethal because it reduces air circulation in the lungs. Corriere reported that after Fakir allegedly lunged at officers and tried to bite them, police used pepper spray and immobilized him face-down. Video of his final minutes shows the Red Cross volunteers standing by until police gave clearance—standard practice, sources and the Red Cross say—before starting resuscitation without drugs, which volunteers cannot administer.

What are investigators examining now?

ANSA reports Bologna prosecutors will acquire Interior Ministry guidelines on containment techniques and examine the upstream 118 system, including why an ambulance without a doctor was sent to via Svevo. Fakir was in the area for just over 50 minutes from the first 112 call at 11:59 until his death at 12:53. At 12:36 volunteers sought a medical consult; a doctor vehicle left Maggiore hospital at 12:42. Death was declared at 12:53. Bologna's health authority said the response followed procedures based on available information and opened an audit.

Separately, rapper Bubu Doc (Enrico Abumhere) told Italian media he recognized one officer from the Fakir case as the same man who allegedly mistreated him in a prior Bologna stop, a claim he says he reported to carabinieri. The allegation has not been adjudicated.