Italy drops automatic school evacuations after new hoax bomb threats
Italy will no longer evacuate schools over mass-sent bomb threat emails alone, the government said, after a second wave of hoax threats hit schools on Thursday.
Italy's government said schools will no longer be automatically evacuated over a bomb threat sent by mass email alone, after fake bomb-threat emails were sent to about 1,800 schools nationwide, Adnkronos reported. The interministerial committee for the security of the republic set the new rule at a technical-level meeting on Thursday afternoon, following Wednesday's wave of threats, according to Rai News.
Under the new protocol, which the government said already applies across public administration, a building will not be evacuated unless there is concrete evidence of an actual danger beyond the mass email itself. A local prefect can still order an evacuation if there is specific, concrete information about a real risk, Mediafax reported.
One school principal said she checked the sender's email address and immediately recognised the message as spam, so she did not evacuate her school, TGCom24 reported. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said officials checked school by school and found nothing, after describing the previous day's threats as a "strategy of terror."
The latest wave of threats arrived from a Philippine email account, a day after an earlier mass threat, apparently sent from a Taiwanese account, forced the evacuation of several schools, German broadcaster n-tv reported. Some schools were evacuated on Thursday before the new guidance took effect, n-tv reported.
Italy had already faced two earlier waves of similar threats this year: on 19 October, about 100 schools received emails threatening attacks "with the permission of Allah," and on 2 November a further 279 schools, mostly in Rome and the Veneto region, received threatening messages, Mediafax reported. Days later, several flights to European airports, including one bound for Bucharest, faced similar hoax alerts.
Italy already has a general emergency framework for workplaces, though it is mainly aimed at fires: a decree requires public administrations with at least ten staff, or venues that can hold more than fifty people at once such as public-facing offices, to have an emergency plan covering evacuation routes, how to call for help and arrangements for people with special needs, with drills required at least once a year, Mediafax reported.
Officials said the repeated threats were intended to spread alarm and concern rather than to carry out an actual attack, and called for calm while investigations into the source of the emails continued, n-tv reported.
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What we know
- Official · Italian government (CISR) Fake bomb-threat emails were sent to about 1,800 schools across Italy; the government said schools will no longer be automatically evacuated over mass emails alone, Adnkronos reported.
- Official · Italian government A local prefect can still order an evacuation if there is specific, concrete evidence of a real risk, Mediafax reported.
- 1 outlet · n-tv Thursday's threats came from a Philippine email account, a day after an earlier wave apparently sent from a Taiwanese account forced some evacuations, n-tv reported.
- 1 outlet · Mediafax Earlier waves hit about 100 schools on 19 October and 279 schools on 2 November, mostly in Rome and the Veneto region, Mediafax reported.
How each fact is established: Verified checked by an ECTV editorOfficial stated by an official body2+ outlets reported independently by two or more news organisations1 outlet reported by a single news organisation so farUnconfirmed claimed or reportedHow we label facts
Why it matters for Europe
The repeated hoax threats have disrupted schools across Italy several times in recent weeks, and the new protocol marks a shift from automatic evacuation towards requiring concrete evidence of danger, affecting how authorities respond to future threats. Similar hoax bomb alerts have also disrupted flights to European airports in the same period, Mediafax reported.
Sources
Reported by 5 reports from 5 independent outlets in 4 countries.
- TGCom24: Allarme bomba a scuola, la preside che non ha fatto evacuare: "Cercato l’indirizzo mail, ho capito che era spam"
- Dnevnik Slovenia: Več italijanskih šol danes spet prejelo bombno grožnjo
- n-tv: Regierung ruft zu Ruhe auf: Mehrere Schulen in Italien erhalten neue Bombendrohung
- Mediafax: Italia nu va mai evacua școlile la fiecare e-mail cu amenințări cu bombă
- Adnkronos: Nuovo allarme bomba, mail fake a 1.800 scuole in tutta Italia. Palazzo Chigi prepara nuovo protocollo su evacuazioni
Source balance
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Questions and answers
- How many schools were targeted?
- About 1,800 schools across Italy received fake bomb-threat emails on Thursday, Adnkronos reported.
- Will schools still be evacuated for such threats?
- Not automatically. Italy's government said a mass-sent email alone is no longer enough to trigger an evacuation, unless a prefect has specific evidence of a real risk, Mediafax reported.
- Has this happened before?
- Yes, twice in recent weeks: about 100 schools were targeted on 19 October and 279 on 2 November, Mediafax reported.
This article was written with AI assistance from 5 verified reports and checked under the ECTV editorial policy. Spotted an error? Request a correction.