MILAN - - Two 15-year-olds were hit by a van on July 17 on a pedestrian crossing near Milan, one of whom has died, according to police.

 The crash happened in Garbagnate, near Milan. A boy, named as Serafino Valentino Colia, has died while the girl he was with was seriously injured while they were crossing a pedestrian crossing on bikes. 

 The driver of the van, 32-year-old Bogdan Pasca, who later stopped to give assistance, tested positive for alcohol and was driving without a licence, police report. 

 This is just the latest in a rash of cyclist deaths in the Northern city. 

 The collision happened at 10.30 p.m. in Via Kennedy in Garbagnate Milanese (Milan), where the emergency services responded with two ambulances and a helicopter. The boy was transported to the San Gerardo hospital in Monza in cardiac arrest, and died shortly afterwards. 

 The girl was taken by helicopter to Niguarda Hospital in Milan in a coma. Pasca, of Romanian nationality, was taken by the Rho (Milan) Carabinieri to San Vittore prison in Milan pending further action from the judicial authorities, who also ordered an autopsy on the young victim's body.

 Pasca, now in prison for road homicide, had already been charged several times since 2016, following checks, for driving under the influence and without a licence.

 The two 15-year-olds were crossing the road on the zebra crossing on a bicycle, while two other boys, their friends, who were not involved in the accident, were on other bikes. The public prosecutor on duty, Mauro Clerici, will shortly submit a request to the judge for validation of the arrest and custody in prison.

 Pasca was on probation to social services. The order, which allowed him to go out freely from 6am to 11pm had been issued previously for injury and ill-treatment. Pasca, a resident of Milan, also has previous convictions for handling stolen goods, drugs and threats. 

 He had been caught without a licence in 2016 and 2017, and without a licence and under the influence in 2020. He works as a worker in a construction company, Società italiana strutture srls in Paderno Dugnano (Milan), which owns of the van, which is regularly insured.

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