Bologna Massacre

Bologna massacre
Rescue teams making their way through the rubble.
Location	Bologna Central Station
Date	2 August 1980 10:25 (UTC+1)
Attack type	Bomb attack
Deaths	85
Non-fatal injuries	200+
Perpetrators	Luigi Ciavardini, Valerio Fioravanti and Francesca Mambro (members of the Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari)

The Bologna massacre (Italian: strage di Bologna) was a terrorist bombing of the Central Station at Bologna, Italy, on the morning of 2 August 1980, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 200. The attack was carried out by the neo-fascist terrorist organization Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari (Armed Revolutionary Nuclei), which always denied any involvement; other theories have been proposed, especially in correlation with the strategy of tension. The bombing is the fourth deadliest terrestrial terrorist attack in Western Europe behind the Nice attack in July 2016, the Paris attacks in November 2015, and the Madrid train bombings in March 2004.

At 10:25 a.m., a time-bomb contained in an unattended suitcase detonated inside an air-conditioned waiting room, which, the month being August (and with air conditioning being uncommon in Italy at the time), was crammed full of people. The explosion destroyed most of the main building and hit the Ancona–Chiasso train that was waiting at the first platform. The blast was heard for miles. The roof of the waiting room collapsed onto the passengers, which greatly increased the total number killed in the terrorist attack.

On that summer Saturday the station was full of tourists and the city was unprepared for such a massive incident. Many citizens and travelers provided first aid to victims and helped to extract people buried under the rubble. Given the large number of casualties, since the ambulances and emergency vehicles were not sufficient for the transport of the injured to the city's hospitals, firefighters also employed buses, in particular the line 37, private cars and taxis. In order to provide care to the victims of the attack, doctors and hospital staff returned from vacation, as well as departments, closed for summer holidays, were reopened to allow the admission of all patients.