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Police are searching for a truck driver who is shown on a widely circulated video whipping female migrants after he found them in the back of his truck.
The incident happened near the French border, officials said on Wednesday.
Smugglers loaded the 12 Eritrean women on the truck at a rest stop near the French border on Monday while the trucker was having lunch, according to authorities. The women allegedly paid 100-150 euros ($110-1$65) to be transported across the border, but authorities believe the truck driver was unaware of their presence.
Once closed inside the truck, the women apparently started agitating due to the heat, with outdoor temperatures over 30 degrees C (86 F), drawing the driver’s attention, city officials said.
The video made by a witness — who asked not to be identified — shows the man striking at the woman with the hardware end of a cargo strap as they descended one by one. At one point, one of the women stood firm, shielding others so they could pass without being struck. The last woman to exit tried to grab the strap from him.
The women returned to a center run by the Catholic charity Caritas, where they had been staying. They attempted to cross two more times, again on Monday and Tuesday, before apparently making it on the third attempt, said Serena Regazzoni of Caritas Ventimiglia.
The city’s mayor condemned the trucker’s action, but also expressed sympathy that he risked arrest if French police found him carrying undocumented migrants across the border.
“We must reflect on the security for truck drivers who are just doing their jobs. They shouldn’t run the risk without being aware of being accused of aiding clandestine immigration,’’ said Mayor Flavio Di Muro.
While the truck driver was being sought, officials said he was unlikely to face any sanction as it would require the women to make a formal complaint.
The Ligurian coastal town of Ventimiglia in northern Italy has long been a hotspot along the migrant route as people who have made the perilous Mediterranean crossing seek to reach wealthier northern European countries, sometimes to join relatives.
