The leader of Italy's 5-Star Movement called Thursday to award speedy citizenship to a 13-year-old Egyptian boy hailed as a hero for being the first to alert police that he and scores of his middle school classmates had been abducted by their bus driver. Ramy Shehata "put his life at risk to save that of his classmates," Luigi Di Maio said on Facebook, adding that he would ask Italy's premier to confer citizenship for special merit.

The boy's father, who immigrated in 2001, launched the appeal for Ramy, who was born in Italy. The 13-year-old is credited with helping save his classmates by calling authorities on a phone that was concealed after the driver ordered their devices collected and tied up their gym teachers.