(ANSA) - Vibo Valentia, April 10 - A 42-year-old former Calabrina local election candidate, Matteo Vinci, died at Limbadi near Vibo Valentia in Calabria as the car he was driving blew up because of a bomb on Monday.

Carabinieri said the bomb, in the car boot, was remotely activated. Vinci's 70-year-old father Vincenzo was seriously injured in the blast.

He is fighting for his life in hospital.

Vinci, a former medicines salesman, was a candidate in a civic list in the last town council elections.

</s>Local politician Matteo Vinci, 42, died instantly when the car he was driving exploded and burst into flames. His 70-year-old father Francesco, a passenger in the car, suffered multiple injuries but survived the blast and is in a serious condition in hospital. Matteo Vinci stood as an independent candidate in recent municipal elections under a “free and democratic" banner.

Onlookers said the car, a Ford Fiesta, was practically destroyed by the explosion. Initial suggestions that the explosion was an accident have been dismissed and prosecutors are treating it as a targeted attack with possible organised crime links. A security source in the Calabrian town of Limbadi said: “It was an attack, not a lethal accident. “An attack carried out with a criminal technique that reports directly, and inevitably, to the mafia. “The explosion occurred when the car crossed a country road in a very isolated area, in the town of Cervolaro.”

Police bomb experts who carried out technical examinations a the scene to determine the causes of the blast said the device had been placed under the car and the explosion could have been activated remotely. Officials said Limbadi was one of the areas of highest Mafia activity in the province of Vibo Valentia and of the whole Calabria. Vibo Valentia prefect Guido Longo has urgently convened the provincial Committee for Public Order and Security to discuss the ramifications of the killing.</s>Vibo Valentia, April 10 - A 42-year-old former Calabrina local election candidate, Matteo Vinci, died at Limbadi near Vibo Valentia in Calabria as the car he was driving blew up because of a bomb on Monday. Carabinieri said the bomb, in the car boot, was remotely activated. Vinci's 70-year-old father Vincenzo was seriously injured in the blast. He is fighting for his life in hospital. Vinci, a former medicines salesman, was a candidate in a civic list in the last town council elections. Police on Tuesday arrested a 'Ndrangheta mafia-linked man who publicly quarrelled with Vinci in 2014, 71-year-old Domenico Di Grillo. Di Grillo, the husband of clan chieftains' sister Rosaria Mancuso, was arrested on charges of illegally possessing arms and munitions.</s>Vibo Valentia, April 10 - A 42-year-old former Calabrina local election candidate, Matteo Vinci, died at Limbadi near Vibo Valentia in Calabria as the car he was driving blew up because of a bomb on Monday. Carabinieri said the bomb, in the car boot, was remotely activated. Vinci's 70-year-old father Vincenzo was seriously injured in the blast. He is fighting for his life in hospital. Vinci, a former medicines salesman, was a candidate in a civic list in the last town council elections. Police on Tuesday arrested a 'Ndrangheta mafia-linked man who publicly quarrelled with Vinci in 2014, 71-year-old Domenico Di Grillo. Di Grillo, the husband of clan chieftains' sister Rosaria Mancuso, was arrested on charges of illegally possessing arms and munitions. Vinci's mother Rosaria Scarpulla said the family would not be intimidated. "We're not scared," she said. "We've been fighting the Mancusos for years to have our rights," she said. Local anti-mafia prosecutors said the "response of the Satte will be strong".</s>Vibo Valeantia, April 9 - A 42-year-old man, Matteo Vinci, died at Limbadi near Vibo Valentia in Calabria as the car he was driving blew up because of a suspected bomb on Monday. Carabinieri said they thought a bomb may have been placed in the car boot. His father Vincenzo was seriously inured in the blast. Vinci, a former medicines salesman, was a candidate in a civicc list in the last town council elections.</s>A view of Vibo Valentia, close to the scene of the incident. Photo: M.belsito/CC BY-SA 3.0

A man died in Calabria in southern Italy on Monday after his car blew up in a suspected car bomb incident.

The victim, named in Italian media as 42-year-old Matteo Vinci, had run in the most recent town council elections in Limbadi, a town of around 3,700 people.

Vinci's 73-year-old father was also in the car at the time and was seriously injured as a result of the blast. At first, police believed the incident was the result of a gas explosion, but later told reporters they believed the cause was an explosive device left in the Ford Fiesta's boot and possibly activated via radio.

The motive for the apparent attack is not yet clear, although it took place in an area known for mafia activity. The younger Vinci, a former medical salesperson, had also run in 2015 council elections as part of a list called 'Free and Democratic Limbadi'. He was not elected in that vote.

Local councils in Calabria are regularly disbanded over suspected links to organized crime groups, and in fact Limbadi was the first comune to receive such an order, in 1983 -- before the official law against mafia infiltration in public authorities had come into force.

Several publications reported that both victims of Tuesday's apparent attack had a history of disputes with a local mafia-linked family. They had been arrested in 2014 after a fight with members of the Mancuso crime group, according to the Corriere della Calabria.

Police bomb squads were carrying out further checks on the vehicle on Tuesday in order to establish the type of device used, while the 73-year-old remained in hospital after sustaining severe burns.</s>An elderly woman has died after being run over by her own car in Adelaide.</s>Two elderly people have been injured after a car ploughed into a supermarket at Portarlington.
A car bomb in Limbadi, near Vibo Valentia, Calabria, kills local politician Matteo Vinci and leaves his elderly father critically injured.