Bomb alert in over 300 schools in Italy, evacuations and checks. 'Great attention, but no danger'

Key points THE POINT 12:48 Piantedosi: 'It is premature to talk about a common mastermind' 12:41 Meloni: 'Great attention on the bomb alerts but no dangers emerge' 12:35 False bomb alarm in 300 schools in Northern Ireland, some evacuated 12:34 In Umbria, checks in schools after bomb alert come back negative 12:33 Bomb alert also at an elementary school in Lipari 12:31 Government sources: 'No concrete danger, just a strategy to generate alarm' 12:26 In Bologna, in several cases students returned to class, principals' conference interrupted 12:19 Crosetto: 'Bomb alerts at school? Terror strategy but also mythomaniacs' 12:10 Valditara: 'So far 300 bomb alerts across Italy, risk nonexistent' 12:05 In Puglia, students back in class after bomb squad checks 12:00 Meloni convenes a meeting at 4 pm 11:55 Over 50 schools involved in Lazio 11:53 25 reports at the Turin police headquarters 11:49 In Friuli Venezia Giulia bomb alert in about twenty schools, evacuations also in Veneto 11:43 Numerous bomb alerts in schools in Naples and its province 11:40 Schools evacuated in the Milan area 11:39 'We will annihilate you', the email sent to over a hundred schools 11:03 Bomb alert in dozens of schools in Italy from anonymous email THE POINT Bomb alert in hundreds of Italian schools. The alert was triggered by an anonymous email sent to schools in several cities. Students and staff of the affected schools were evacuated and sweeps by law enforcement are underway. In recent days a similar episode had already occurred with an email message sent to 280 principals. A single email sent to schools across all of Italy triggered the evacuations. At the moment over a hundred schools have raised the alarm but the number is increasing. 12:48 Piantedosi: 'It is premature to talk about a common mastermind' "Any statement made in the immediate aftermath risks being inopportune and inappropriate. It is premature to talk about a common mastermind": so said Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, in Orvieto, about the bomb alerts. "On the hypothesis of a common mastermind, the investigators who are working on it will have to weigh in," he added. For Piantedosi, "there is a trail of events which, at least in the form of copycat acts, has the common trait of trying to engage the public system through alerts that then, many times, fortunately, turn out to be unfounded." 12:41 Meloni: 'Great attention on the bomb alerts but no dangers emerge' "The Government is following with great attention the numerous reports concerning bomb alerts in schools. Law enforcement and institutions, at every level, are engaged in monitoring the situation and reassuring citizens, families and school staff. At the moment, from the checks carried out, no element emerges that would suggest a concrete danger exists. The reports rather seem traceable to a strategy aimed at generating alarm and concern, on which all the necessary in-depth analyses are underway." So stated Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on social media. 12:35 False bomb alarm in 300 schools in Northern Ireland, some evacuated 12:34 In Umbria, checks in schools after bomb alert come back negative "We want to reassure families, female and male students and all school staff. The checks carried out so far in Umbrian schools have come back negative and law enforcement is operating promptly and attentively to verify every report": so announced the president of the Umbria Region, Stefania Proietti, and the Education councillor Fabio Barcaioli. "The phenomenon is also affecting Umbria, where checks and controls by law enforcement are underway," they explained. They explained that "at the moment several schools are involved in Umbria and the figure is being updated." "We are in constant contact and collaboration," Proietti and Barcaioli explain in a note, "with the police headquarters of Perugia and Terni, the Prefectures, the regional school office and the Civil Protection, to follow the evolution of the situation and guarantee maximum safety. 12:33 Bomb alert also at an elementary school in Lipari The bomb alert that arrived by email at schools across all of Italy also reached the elementary school — the "San Domenico Savio" comprehensive institute on Via Stradale in Lipari in the Aeolian Islands. The institute was evacuated. 12:31 Government sources: 'No concrete danger, just a strategy to generate alarm' At the moment, from the checks carried out, no element emerges that would suggest a concrete danger exists. This is reported by government sources, also to reassure families, teachers, school staff and school institutions after the evacuations of schools across all of Italy. The reports, the same sources explain, rather seem traceable to a strategy aimed at generating alarm and concern, on which all the necessary in-depth analyses are underway. 12:26 In Bologna, in several cases students returned to class, principals' conference interrupted With the bomb alerts triggered also in several schools in Bologna and its province, in some institutes precautionary evacuation of students was carried out, while in others the kids remained in their classrooms or have already returned to class after the checks. The students were reassured by school staff. The alert was cleared in the institutes where the checks were completed, while investigations continue in the other schools involved. Among the schools affected are the two campuses of the Minghetti, the Testoni Fioravanti institute, the Fortuzzi, the Carducci, the Rolandino, the Guercino, the Guido Reni, the Dozza and the Serpieri institute and others. The police headquarters received reports from several schools in Bologna and one in Imola, triggering the investigations. The carabinieri were also engaged in precautionary checks. The news of the emails with threats and bomb alerts, sent to schools across all of Italy, in Bologna was received simultaneously by school principals from across the region who, at the Mast on Via Speranza, were gathered for the regional services conference, scheduled for this morning. The proceedings were supposed to end at 1:30 pm, but were definitively concluded early, at 12:30. At least five high schools and one primary school are being evacuated in Modena, plus two more high schools in Vignola and Sassuolo, after the receipt of an email message speaking of a device in a plastic bag with a remote trigger. In at least one case the kids have already been let back in. The local police are guarding the schools involved to ensure traffic flow. The alert for dozens and dozens of schools was triggered across all of Italy. 12:19 Crosetto: 'Bomb alerts at school? Terror strategy but also mythomaniacs' "It is part of a strategy that is now clear: that of sowing terror or creating concerns, which is all too easy. Any one of us could, with the means and tools available, send an email to a school, a kindergarten or an airline saying there is a bomb." So said the Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, about the bomb alerts in several schools in Rome that arrived in the last few minutes, on the sidelines of the Sole 24 Ore event 'The country that is changing', warning that "we will see more and more of them, because unfortunately the mother of fools is always pregnant." 12:10 Valditara: 'So far 300 bomb alerts across Italy, risk nonexistent' About 300 schools across all of Italy have received emails with bomb alerts, but the number "is destined to increase, the number of three hundred was from about half an hour ago," said the Minister of Education, Giuseppe Valditara, appearing on Aria che Tira on La7. "They have targeted flights, supermarkets, if I remember correctly even hospitals. It is evident that there is a strategy. Who is behind it is difficult to imagine at this moment. The intelligence services are obviously active to identify it. The judiciary will conduct its investigations but it is evident that we must protect ourselves and investments in security are fundamental," he added. "No to alarmism because it is evident from the content of the email that the concrete risk is practically nonexistent, it is a cyber attack and not, in all likelihood, a real risk, but the strategy must be conceived by involving the Services," Valditara added. "We will hold a meeting with the other ministers, we will decide on a strategy and then we will stick to it," he added. "But I would like to reassure: the high number of schools involved demonstrates the low credibility." 12:05 In Puglia, students back in class after bomb squad checks Numerous schools in Puglia were affected by the false bomb alert that arrived with an email signed by 'Mikhail Andropov'. In the provinces of Bari and Bat — as far as is known so far — some schools were evacuated, such as the Don Bosco Manzoni comprehensive institute and the Ites Carafa in Andria; in others it was preferred to continue with lessons, considering the alert a fake. Same script in Salento where students and teachers were made to leave their classrooms and reached the outdoor areas of the school at the Itc Olivetti and the Banzi scientific high school. After the bomb squad inspection, the kids returned to class. Also in Ostuni (Brindisi) the Pepe-Calamo scientific high school was temporarily evacuated. 12:00 Meloni convenes a meeting at 4 pm Following the reports of devices in schools, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has convened a meeting at 4 pm at Palazzo Chigi to take stock of the situation and coordinate the necessary initiatives. This is reported by Palazzo Chigi sources, explaining that the meeting will be attended by the Deputy Prime Ministers Matteo Salvini and Antonio Tajani, the ministers Matteo Piantedosi and Guido Crosetto, the Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council Alfredo Mantovano, the top officials of the intelligence services and of the National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN). 11:55 Over 50 schools involved in Lazio Bomb alert also in dozens of schools in Rome. The kids were made to go out into the gardens or the areas outside the schools; in some cases the school principals decided to send them home. "Since this morning more than 50 schools across the entire Lazio region, a number rapidly increasing in these minutes, have been evacuated following a bomb alert received by the schools in their email inbox. A situation that has created tension among the school communities of our region. The Government should intervene to guarantee safety in the schools of our country," says Simone Montori, regional coordinator of the Rete degli Studenti Medi of Lazio. "It is inconceivable that a simple email can sow panic across the entire peninsula," he adds. Hundreds of students from several schools in the province of Rieti were evacuated this morning. The schools affected include both primary and secondary schools. In Viterbo, alerts at seven schools. 11:53 25 reports at the Turin police headquarters There have been more than 25 bomb alert reports that arrived this morning at the Turin police headquarters from as many schools that received an anonymous email, as also happened in other Italian cities. Investigators are verifying each report, while the postal police, as far as is known, have launched investigations. In some schools the administrations ordered students out of their classrooms, gathering them in the courtyards. "We stayed outside the classrooms for an hour," recounts Gabriel, student representative at the Primo Levi school, "then when the alert was cleared we were able to go back in." According to initial information, students at the Copernico and Majorana institutes had also been made to leave the buildings. 11:49 In Friuli Venezia Giulia bomb alert in about twenty schools, evacuations also in Veneto There are altogether about twenty schools against which bomb alerts have been issued. So far, this would involve 14 schools in Trieste (which have been evacuated), two in Gorizia, two in Monfalcone, three in Udine; in Pordenone, however, the same threatening emails would have arrived at all the schools. Numerous schools in the Metropolitan City of Venice were evacuated this morning. As in other circumstances, security measures were triggered, with teachers and students being moved away. The alert in particular affected the Giordano Bruno scientific high school in Mestre, and other schools, both high schools and municipal comprehensive institutes. 11:43 Numerous bomb alerts in schools in Naples and its province There are numerous bomb alerts that have led to the evacuation of schools between Naples and its province, according to initial information in the possession of the Carabinieri. Among the schools affected, "many," several in the city, between the center, Monte di Dio and the Vomero, and then in the province, in Torre Annunziata and Castello di Cisterna. After the alert, the evacuation is triggered in order to allow the necessary checks. 11:40 Schools evacuated in the Milan area Also in the Milan area, evacuations of schools are underway following a bomb alert that arrived via email. Checks are underway across the whole country, where similar situations have been reported. In the Milan area, patrol cars are intervening to support the evacuation operations. The new bomb alert in schools is also affecting the Brescia area. Several are the institutes where the evacuation was triggered after an email announced the presence of a device. Some principals, however, chose not to let the students out after learning that the email had arrived at schools across all of Italy. 11:39 'We will annihilate you', the email sent to over a hundred schools A single email sent to schools across all of Italy triggered the evacuations in dozens of schools of various levels in the cities. At the moment over a hundred schools have raised the alarm but the number is increasing. "We have come to annihilate you. We will carry out a genocide against the Italians," was written in the message signed Mikhail Antropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misoginistan. The email speaks of a "powerful device" left in the building inside a plastic bag "with a remote trigger." 11:03 Bomb alert in dozens of schools in Italy from anonymous email Bomb alert in dozens of Italian schools. The alert was triggered by an anonymous email sent to schools in several cities. Students and staff of the affected schools were evacuated and sweeps by law enforcement are underway. In recent days a similar episode had already occurred with an email message sent to 280 principals.