ROME - Investigators have identified a motorist alleged to have killed two young Belgian women, one of whom was pregnant, in a shocking hit-and-run incident on the outskirts of the capital last week-end, as a 45 year-old Italian man with a criminal record, police said.  The suspect, a Roman resident, who was not immediately named, was arrested at his home after fleeing the scene and has remained in custody pending the outcome of the investigation.    

 On Saturday, along a stretch of the A24 motorway near the Tor Cervara junction east of Rome, Jessy Dewildeman, 24, and Wibe Bijls, 26, were hit by the Smart car when they stepped out of their vehicle to try and assist motorists injured in a separate rear-end collision, the police said.

 At 10:10 p.m., while leaving the rented Fiat Panda they were struck by the Smart car on the hard shoulder of the highway, throwing them across the road.  The Smart driver then abandoned his vehicle, which was not registered in his name, and fled on foot.  The two women died at the scene.

 Jessy worked as a housemaid and Wibe, a chef at a restaurant in Menen, was expecting a baby.  The women, aged 24 and 26, had recently arrived in Rome to spend a week-end away, a gift to Jessy from one of her clients.

 In relation to the earlier collision, two men were admitted to hospital in a critical condition, and a woman was treated for minor injuries. 

 In another development revealed by the police, the suspect had no valid driving licence and tested positive for both drugs and alcohol.

 jp-es