Schools across Italy received bomb threats for the second consecutive day, causing panic and evacuations. Around 3,778 schools, from Milan in the north to Sicily in the south, reported similar threats to one that caused chaos on Wednesday, despite no explosives being found.
The government advised schools that, without concrete evidence apart from a mass email warning of danger, they should not evacuate. On Thursday, only 77 schools were evacuated, a decrease from the previous day.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated that her government would provide “sector-specific” guidance to those facing such threats.
Threats were also received by schools in Scotland and Northern Ireland on Wednesday, but it remains unclear if these incidents are connected.
In northern France, a bomb alert at a Calais rail station delayed both international and national train services.
These incidents follow a series of bomb hoaxes targeting airports and airlines in several European countries last week. While an extremist misogynistic group initially claimed responsibility, it later distanced itself from the false warnings.
The email threat sent on Wednesday targeted 6,300 out of 7,476 Italian state schools and was purportedly from “Mikhail Andropov, leader of Vilayat di Misoginistan.” Some officials suggest the threat originated in Taiwan. A similar message sent to schools on Thursday, also signed by Andropov, is believed to have come from a hacked account of a teacher in the Philippines.
