Three young Roma Gypsy sisters died on Wednesday in a camper van in Rome's southern Casilina district in what police suspect was an overnight arson attack.
Elisabeth Halinovic, 20, Elisabeth Halinovic, 8, and Angelica Halinovic, 4, were killed when flames engulfed the camper van shortly after 3 am, Rome daily il Messaggero reported Wednesday on its website.
The other seven members of Halinovic family managed to escape from the blazing van, which was parked in a shopping centre car park.
Rome's grassroots mayor Virginia Raggi visited the scene of the fire.
The victims' parents and three other siblings lived in the camper van, which was gutted by the fire.
Rome city counsellor for the left-wing SEL party, Gianluca Peciola urged Raggi to declare a day of mourning for the Halinovic sisters.
"Immense pain at the deaths of three innocent people. The city should stand by their family and the mayor declare a day of mourning," Peciola tweeted.
Traces of inflammable liquid were found near the camper van and police were examining footage from car park security cameras to try and identify the suspected arsonists.
