Italy evacuates schools after 6,300 institutions receive bomb threat emails

Detailed summary

Italy evacuated hundreds of schools after thousands received an emailed bomb threat. Authorities found no concrete danger but are investigating the coordinated hoax.

Italian authorities evacuated hundreds of schools on Wednesday after more than 6,300 institutions received an emailed bomb threat. Similar threats were sent to schools in Ireland, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but no evacuations were reported there.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said there was no indication of any "concrete danger" and that the threats appeared intended to generate "alarm and concern". The incident was the latest in a series of disruptions affecting European institutions after recent hoaxes targeting airlines and broadcasters.

Italy's Education Ministry said more than 6,300 schools had received the email, although it was not immediately clear how many had been evacuated. Meloni said investigations were under way and that she had called a meeting of ministers for later on Wednesday.

Copies of the anonymous email obtained by Italian media, including the LaPresse news agency, showed that it also contained a threat against Meloni. She did not address the personal threat in her statement, and her office had no immediate comment.

The email claimed to be from the leader of an otherwise unknown group with an anti-woman name and contained particularly violent threats. It was signed using the same Russian name that appeared in threats sent to European broadcasters last week.

Authorities have not attributed the threats to any group or country, and no evidence has emerged linking the hoaxes to a government.

Police in Northern Ireland said they were carrying out "urgent inquiries" after a threatening email was sent to hundreds of schools. Police in Scotland said they were treating similar messages as hoaxes and had not asked schools to evacuate.

"Our assessment remains that they do not represent a credible threat," Police Scotland said. Police in Ireland said they were also aware of a "generic communication" sent to several educational institutions.

Italian Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara said authorities still had to handle the threats cautiously.

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