MILAN, Feb 8 : The Italian Transport Ministry believes that the incidents that disrupted train service in the Bologna area are acts of sabotage and are reminiscent of the attacks that occurred in 2024 on the eve of the opening of the Paris Olympic Games.
Several damage to the track and associated infrastructure in the Bologna area were previously reported.
The first incident was recorded on Saturday morning on the section between Bologna and Venice, where damaged cables were discovered.
An improvised explosive device was also found and defused on a switch on the Bologna-Padua line, electrical cables were cut on the high-speed section of the same route, and a fire occurred in an electrical cabinet on the Bologna-Ancona line near Pesaro. At 2:45 p.m., the Italian railway network operator announced the restoration of service.
“The serious acts of sabotage that occurred this morning near the Bologna and Pesaro train stations, causing significant inconvenience to thousands of passengers, are alarming and reminiscent of the terrorist attacks that occurred in France just hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games,” the ministry said.
Transport Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini is monitoring the disruptions, it said.
“These actions, which are of an unprecedentedly severe nature, will in no way tarnish Italy’s image worldwide, which the Olympics will make even more convincing and positive,” the ministry assured.
Salvini himself, who is overseeing the competitions in Bormio, attributed the accidents to “deliberate attacks.”
“If it is confirmed that the train stoppage was the result of a deliberate attack on the first day of the Olympic Games, it would be fair to say that someone wishes Italy ill,” Salvini said, as quoted by Adnkronos.
According to Italian media, investigators are not ruling out the possibility that this was a demonstrative, anarchist act, similar to the one that took place in France in 2024 during the Paris Olympics.
(UNI)
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