Bomb threats reach about 300 Italian schools, prompting evacuations and a meeting at the top of government
Italy's Education Minister, Giuseppe Valditara, said on Wednesday that about 300 schools across the country had received bomb threats. He described the threats as probably a cyber-attack, meaning an attack carried out through computer systems, rather than a genuine risk.
Threatening emails were sent to schools in Rome, Naples, Vicenza, Florence, Pisa, Trieste and many other Italian cities. A number of school buildings were evacuated as a precaution after the messages arrived. Many of the schools evacuated on Wednesday were later allowed to return to class once the alarm was lifted.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called a meeting of top ministers and intelligence chiefs over the threats. She said checks carried out so far had not indicated evidence of concrete danger from the bomb threats.
280 school head teachers had received threats in recent days, according to Italian reports. Stefania Proietti, the head of the Umbria region, said checks carried out so far in Umbrian schools had proved negative.
The emails have also reached schools beyond Italy. Police in Northern Ireland are treating more than 300 emails sent to schools there as a hoax, meaning a false threat. Police in Scotland are treating messages sent to a number of schools in that country in the same way.
