The Smart Marty Sky Dispatch
Thousands of schools in Europe get hoax bomb threats
Less than a week after more than 20 European flights got fake bomb threats, hundreds of schools in Italy, the U.K. and Ireland were hit by similar hoaxes.
Thousands of European schools were hit by hoax bomb threats on Wednesday, with Italy, the United Kingdom and Ireland among the hardest affected. Authorities say at least 6,300 Italian schools received the messages, and hundreds more in Ireland and Britain were warned.
In Italy, schools in cities including Rome, Milan, Naples, Palermo and Bologna were evacuated as precautionary checks were carried out. Police and bomb disposal teams, along with other security forces, conducted inspections but no explosives or suspicious devices were reported found at any of the sites.
The threats followed a wave of similar hoaxes targeting more than 20 European flights last week, though no concrete dangers were confirmed at the schools in the immediate reports. Investigations were ongoing to determine the source of the messages.
Authorities noted that the incidents are occurring in the context of broader concerns about hybrid warfare tactics aimed at Europe, with security officials wary of coordinated online threats and provocations linked to wider regional tensions. No arrests or blame had been announced at the time of the reporting.