Italy evacuates over 300 schools after bomb threat as Northern Ireland, Scotland also threatened

MILAN — Italian authorities evacuated hundreds of schools Wednesday after an emailed bomb threat, the latest in a series of disruptions affecting European institutions following recent hoaxes aimed at airlines and broadcasters.Schools in Ireland, Scotland and Northern Ireland received similar threats, but no evacuations were reported.Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said there was no indication of any “concrete danger” to schools and that the threats appeared aimed at “generating alarm and concern.” She said investigations were underway and that she had called a meeting of ministers for later Wednesday.The anonymous email also threatened Meloni, according to copies obtained by Italian media, including the LaPresse news agency.She did not address the personal threat in her statement, and her office had no immediate comment.The email purported to come from the leader of an otherwise unknown group with an anti-woman name and contained particularly violent threats.

It was signed with the same Russian name used in last week’s threats against European broadcasters.Authorities have not attributed the threats to any group or state, and no evidence has emerged linking the hoaxes to a government.Police in Northern Ireland said they were conducting “urgent inquiries” after a threatening email was sent to hundreds of schools.Police in Scotland said they were treating similar messages as hoaxes and were not requiring schools to evacuate.“Our assessment remains that they do not represent a credible threat,” Police Scotland said.Police in Ireland also said they were aware of a “generic communication” sent to several educational institutions.Italian Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara told reporters that 312 schools had been evacuated after receiving email threats.“These are very delicate considerations, because there is always the risk that there is someone else behind the madman,” he said.

“Given that so many schools are involved, the real risk is ...