Italy's foreign ministry on Thursday confirmed the death of missing student Giulio Regeni in Egypt and summoned Cairo's ambassador to demand maximum cooperation in a probe into what happened.

In a statement, the ministry said Italy expected its own experts to be involved in the investigation. Regeni's corpse, which reportedly showed signs of torture, was found on Wednesday on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital.

The Cambridge University PhD student had not been seen since mysteriously disappearing on January 25.