At least 300 Italian schools evacuated after email bomb alerts

Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara told Italian TV that about 300 schools across Italy had received the threats, while Reuters reported at least 300 schools were evacuated.

The Italian police said the exact number of schools was undetermined because the emails went to hundreds of them and each school decides when to evacuate, following advice from its local police branch. Valditara downplayed the threats as related to cyber attacks and not a "genuine risk." Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a statement that there was currently no indication that a "concrete danger exists," and that the incidents appeared aimed at "generating alarm and concern."

In central Rome, the Quirinio Visconti primary school was evacuated and dozens of kindergarten and primary school children spent the day away from class. A teacher told CNN that parents were notified to pick the children up.

The same wave of threatening emails reached schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, but no schools there were evacuated. In Northern Ireland, more than 300 schools received a threatening email, police said, adding that the message originated outside the United Kingdom and was being treated as a hoax. Assistant Chief Constable Anthony McNally said, "Our enquiries are ongoing, however, at this stage we consider risk to the public as low." The Education Authority said the message resembled a hoax sent to schools last month and that it was unaware of any evidence of a "credible" threat.

Police in the Republic of Ireland said a generic communication had been sent to "a number of educational establishments" and assessed the threat as "not credible," so they did not advise evacuations. Police Scotland said "threatening messages" were sent to schools, treated them as hoaxes and advised schools that the emails alone did not warrant evacuation.

Authorities are investigating where the email came from, the Italian police spokesperson said, and declined to confirm the address the communication was sent from. Meloni said the government was "doing everything necessary to ensure the safety of citizens." CNN described the incident as the latest in a series of threats and cyberattacks targeting infrastructure across Europe, following a string of hoax bomb threats that disrupted dozens of flights and media organizations last week.