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At least 300 schools in Italy were evacuated on Wednesday after receiving the same bomb alert message sent by email, according to Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara. Valditara told La7 TV that the alerts were presumed to be hoaxes and that the number of affected institutions was expected to rise further. The large number of schools involved demonstrates how little credibility the threat has, the minister added while speaking to the channel. Italian police forces are investigating the matter, a spokesperson for Rome police said.
The email warned of an explosive device placed inside school buildings with a remote detonator, stating that the shockwave would leave only bones and bloody pulp, Reuters reported after viewing a copy of the message. One school in Rome informed parents via a messaging app that all students had been taken to a safe area and remained under the supervision of teaching staff. The message was signed “Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misoginistan,” according to the news agency.
The same purported author claimed responsibility for email bomb threats sent on Friday to newsrooms in Ireland and Bulgaria, Reuters data shows. Similar threats prompted evacuations at schools in Scotland and Northern Ireland on Wednesday, with local police treating the messages as hoaxes and reporting no credible risk, a CNBC summary found. Police Scotland advised that the emails alone did not warrant evacuation while the Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed it was investigating the concerning messages sent to a large number of schools.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on Facebook that the government was monitoring the numerous reports closely and that law enforcement agencies were working to reassure citizens, families and school staff. “The reports appear to be part of a strategy designed to cause alarm and concern, and all necessary investigations are currently underway,” Meloni stated in the post. She called a coordination meeting at Palazzo Chigi for 4 p.m. local time to review the situation.
This incident follows a similar wave of bomb threats that reached 271 Italian schools on November 2, prompting evacuations and negative checks in multiple regions including Veneto, Lombardy and Lazio, an Il Politico Web report detailed. The alerts come amid rising concerns in Europe about hybrid warfare that has targeted supermarkets, blood banks, air traffic and TV broadcasters in recent months, according to a Reuters assessment. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto commented that authorities should remain vigilant without fuelling alarmism in the current context.
The emails in the latest Italian case were sent around 9:50 a.m. local time and affected institutions from north to south, including in Lombardy, Veneto, Tuscany, Lazio and Campania, la Repubblica reported in its live updates. Checks by police and firefighters at evacuated sites such as those in Vicenza, Venice and Rome found no explosive devices, according to initial accounts from the authorities. The coordinated campaign has caused widespread disruption for students, teachers and parents on a school day that otherwise proceeded normally in unaffected areas.
