Iman Fadil died before she could give evidence in court

A Moroccan-born model who attended Silvio Berlusconi’s bunga-bunga dinners has died in hospital, allegedly killed by radioactive poisoning.

Magistrates opened a murder investigation after the death this month of Iman Fadil, 34, who was due to give evidence at the former Italian prime minister’s bribery trial.

Ms Fadil is understood to have told her brother and her lawyer that she had been poisoned. Magistrates said that she had symptoms seen in poisoning victims. The news agency ANSA said a toxicology test had found that she had been killed by a “mix of radioactive substances”.

Ms Fadil was scheduled to give evidence about claims that Mr Berlusconi offered to buy silence from women who attended parties at his villa near Milan and paid other guests to