Thousands of ‘hoax’ bomb threats sent to schools in Italy, U.K., police say

Detailed summary

Schools in Italy were evacuated, Northern Ireland and Scotland also received similar threats, but no evacuations were reported, according to the Associated Press.

Italy‘s Premier Giorgia Meloni said there was no indication of any “concrete danger” to schools nationwide on Wednesday after hundreds of educational institutions in the country were evacuated following an emailed bomb threat, the latest in a slew of disruptive hoaxes aimed at European airlines, media outlets and institutions.

Schools in Northern Ireland and Scotland also received similar threats, but no evacuations were reported, according to the Associated Press.

The Italian Education Ministry said the threat was emailed to over 6,300 schools.

In a video message shared on X, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said the government would not let “an anonymous email decide our children’s school calendar.”

“Whoever did this wanted a nation that was paralyzed and afraid. They will find a nation that wakes up tomorrow, takes its children to school, and goes to work. That is the response, and it is the strongest one we have,” the statement said.

Investigations were underway, she added, saying that a meeting of ministers was scheduled to take place late Wednesday.

The anonymous email also contained a threat to Meloni, the AP and LaPresse news agency reported; she did not address the threat in her statement.

The email reportedly contained especially violent threats and was signed by the same name used in last week’s threats against European broadcasters. Investigators have not attributed the threats to any group or state, and there is no evidence linking the hoaxes to any governments, the AP reports.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed Wednesday that it was investigating the circumstances of threatening emails sent to schools across the country, and said it was treating the incident as a hoax.

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