Italian 'ambulance of death' worker arrested

Sicilian police have arrested an ambulance worker suspected of killing people to earn money from a funeral parlour linked to the mafia.

The man has been charged with voluntary homicide in Sicily, after allegedly injecting air into the veins of at least three terminally ill patients as they were transported back to their homes in Bianchavilla.

He is seen to have been paid €300 for each corpse.

It has since been dubbed as the "ambulances of death" scandal in Italian media.

Police were led to the man, after a contact, said to be a reformed mafia member, gave details to authorities in the city of Catania and to an investigative TV programme.

The 42-year-old man is said to have taken advantage of grieving families by recommending a funeral agency linked to t he Sicilian mafia from which he gained his commission.

Reports have suggested that the scheme could have been operating since 2012 and there could have been many other victims.

Investigators are looking into dozens of deaths in Biancavilla, but only 12 have so far been deemed “meaningful” and at present only three deaths have been presented to an investigating magistrate.