Pensioner run over by bus, dies 8 days after leg amputation

 ROME -- Iolanda Verrillo, an 87-year-old woman from Rome, died eight days after being run over by a bus she had been travelling on, leading doctors to amputate her left leg, police said, in the latest in a rash of accidents involving the Eternal City's pisspoor public transport system. The driver of the bus is now under inveestigation, according to the Public Prosecuter's Office. 

 The incident occurred on March 10 on via Portuense. Ms Verrillo was exiting the bus when she got stuck in the doors. She fell to the ground, and the driver, who hadn't noticed her fall, continued driving, running over Verrillo's left leg with the rear tires of the vehicle. Once the driver realized he had hit someone, he called for help. 

 Verrillo was brought to the San Camillo hospital where the doctors had to amputate her leg. Eight days later, on Saturday, Verillo died after her condition grew worse.

 An autopsy will be performed to determine whether or not her death is connected to the amputation that occurred during her final days.  

 The 53-year-old driver of bus 701 is under investigation for vehicular homicide. Further investigations will be conducted to determine if he was using a cell phone and if he checked his rearview mirrors before driving away. If the investigations confim violation of rules of the road, he could be sentenced up to seven years. 

Verillo has been added to an ever-growing list of pedestrian deaths in Italy. This year, there have been 24 in Lazio, 13 of which occurred in Rome. 

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