Today a bomb went off outside a high school in the city of Brindisi, Puglia in southern Italy. One sixteen year old girl has been killed, others have been injured.
Reports are coming though that one girl has died and another eight or so pupils have been injured, one seriously. Sadly, death toll may have risen to two, as reports of the death another girl have been made. Some confusion exists over number of victims at the moment.
Actual death toll stands at one with another girl seriously injured and 6 or so others with injuries which are not life threatening.
Some of the injured are reported to have 40% burns.
The cause of the blast, say reports, were two to three gas cylinders set up as an explosive device. Italy’s authorities say the bomb was very powerful and designed to kill.
The bomb exploded at 7:45 this morning in front of the Francesca Morvillo Falcone high school. The pupils caught in a blast were sitting on a wall in front of the school. Italy’s high schools open on Saturday mornings.
UPDATE: 21 May, 2012
Some news sources in Italy are reporting that the perpetrator of the bomb attack may have been identified.
The brother of the man who is the suspected Brindisi school bomber is apparently in police custody, although nothing has been confirmed yet.
—end of update—
Location of Brindisi in Italy
Stop reading, start speaking
Stop translating in your head and start speaking Italian for real with the only audio course that prompt you to speak.
Use + and – buttons to zoom in and out.
[googlemap lat=”40.636175″ lng=”17.938991″ align=”undefined” width=”450px” height=”300px” zoom=”5″ type=”G_NORMAL_MAP”]Italy[/googlemap]
The school held courses with a focus on social services. Most of the pupils were teenage girls, reports are saying.
It is not known for certain whether the school was the intended target but circumstantial evidence indicates it was.
Anti-mafia police have been called in and government ministers are on their way to the scene.
Despite early speculation, it is too early to say whether the bombing is an act of terrorism linked to organized crime or to the actions of politically motivated terrorists.
Local mayor suspects mafia was behind bombing in view of recent clamp down on organized crime in the area. There have been other suspected mafia attacks in the area recently, as reported on Linkiesta which says school bombing may represent an escalation in mafia activities.
Politicians and Italy’s President Napolitano have, understandably, condemned the attack. Berlusconi party PdL politicians silent for the moment.
Funding for combating organized crime has been cut massively in Italy – from €28 million in 2011 to €10 million today.
More updates will be added when other information comes to light.
