Bomb threat hoaxes prompt evacuation of Italian schools, alarm in UK and Ireland

On Wednesday, hundreds of schools in Italy were evacuated following bomb threats sent to approximately 6,300 educational institutions, marking a recent trend of attacks targeting infrastructure across Europe. Although schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland also received emails, authorities deemed these to be likely hoaxes and did not evacuate the facilities.

Italian police informed CNN that hundreds of schools in the nation were evacuated, but Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni later stated in a video that all threats were fake, with no concrete evidence of an attack.

In Northern Ireland, more than 300 schools received threatening emails, originating from outside the United Kingdom and treated as hoaxes by the police. The Education Authority acknowledged the message resembled a hoax sent to schools the previous month and was unaware of any credible threat evidence. In the Republic of Ireland, police assessed a generic communication sent to some educational establishments as not credible and did not advise evacuations.

A Dublin teacher, Sharon Magee, reported that her school received a bomb threat at 10:55 a.m. local time but was not evacuated. She explained that the staff and students carried on with their day as usual. Meanwhile, Police Scotland acknowledged receiving "threatening messages" to schools, treating them as hoaxes, and advising schools that the emails alone did not necessitate evacuation.

The Italian public education ministry spokesperson confirmed that the exact number of evacuated schools remains unclear, as the decision was made locally in consultation with authorities. Authorities are investigating the origin of the email, declining to confirm the email address, but have not ruled out the possibility of similar threats resurfacing.