Student killed and seven injured in 'Mafia' bomb blast outside school in Italy

Tragic: Melissa Bassi, 16, suffered horrific injuries in the explosion and was rushed to hospital but died a short while later from her injuries

A schoolgirl was killed and seven others injured today in a suspected mafia bomb blast which hit a school.
Two powerful explosions scattered deadly shrapnel across a wide area just as students were arriving for lessons as the devices, connected to gas canisters and hidden in rucksacks went off.
Melissa Bassi, 16, suffered horrific injuries in the explosion and was rushed to hospital but died a short while later from her injuries and there are fears over another of those hurt, a girl, whose condition was described as 'life threatening.'
Paramedics and police were immediately at the scene and TV footage showed scenes of chaos as shocked students gathered outside the building and investigators immediately linked the tragedy to an anti mafia protest march.
The blast went off close to the Morvillo Falcone school in the southern Italian town of Brindisi and home to the local mafia known as the Sacra Corona Unita who have close links with the Russian and Albanian mafia and are linked to drug and gun running.
The school is named after Francesca Morvillo Falcone, who was the wife of anti mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, who were both killed in a bomb blast on May 23 1992 which was carried out by the Sicilian Mafia and tonight/last night there was growing outrage at how innocent school chidlren had been targeted.

Rescue: A woman receives first aid after the explosion outside Francesca Morvillo Falcone high school

Panic: Emergency services and passers-by rush to help those injured in the blast

Mourning: Flowers are placed outside the school in Brindisi where the blast happened

Tributes: Dozens of Melissa Bassi's friends have left tributes on her Facebook page

The devices were hidden in a bin about 30metres from the Brindisi courthouse and as they exploded students arriving for lessons caught the full impact of the blasts.

 

Debris was scattered over a wide area with shrapnel from the canisters piercing shutters of nearby shops and blowing out windows of apartment buildings overlooking the scene.
TV footage showed scenes of desperation as shoes and rucksacks were scattered over the floor, abandoned by the students as the bombs went off just as students arrived for lessons.
Although security across Italy has been stepped up with fears of anarchist attacks due to the drastic economic situation the theory quickly gathering momentum was a never before heard of attack on innocent schoolchildren by the mafia.

Demonstration: Local residents protest the explosion near the high school today

Search begins: Firefighters and forensic officers investigate the shrapnel-covered scene

Blame: Brindisi's mayor, Mimmo Consales, has accused the mafia or carrying out the attack

Concealed: The devices were hidden in a bin about 30m from the Brindisi courthouse

Brindisi's mayor Cosimo Consales said: 'This is an unprecedented attack by organised crime. The name of the school and the planned anti mafia march is all too much of a coincidence,'' adding how just two weeks ago a local anti extortion racket campaigner had cheated death after a powerful device went off under his car.''
One eye witness who works in the court building which overlooks the school told Italian media:''I was just opening the window when the blast caught me in full. When I looked down I saw all the kids on the floor, they were covered in black and their books were on fire.
'It was an infernal scene. Who could have done something like this ? They were just kids.'

Devastating: Shrapnel pierced shutters of nearby shops as the blast blew out windows of apartments

Blast: Two powerful explosions scattered deadly shrapnel across a wide area just as students were arriving for lessons at Morvillo Falcone school

Accusations: Brindisi's mayor Cosimo Consales said:'This is an unprecedented attack by organised crime'

The European Caravan for Legality, is an anti mafia protest that had left Rome last month and was due to wind its away across Italy promoting initiatives against organised crime.
Giovanni Falcone and his wife were killed along with their three strong security escort after the Mafia detonated a bomb under a motorway as he made his convoy made his way from Palermo airport, on the mob's island stronghold of sicily airport to the city centre.

Just two months later his successor Paolo Borsellino who was also killed in a car bomb in Palermo as he visited the apartment block where his mother lived.
Local MP Alfredo Mantovano was also at the scene and said:''There is an anti mafia meeting taking place at the moment with the prosecutors and forces of law and order. This is the first time in Italy that a school has been targeted and this is the most terrible aspect of all this.''
The schoolgirl who was said to be in a serious condition was named as Veronica Capodieci and she had severe burns and internal injuries with doctors battling to save her life as her family waited outside the operating theatre.
According to statistics from Eurispes, an Italian economic and social think tank the Sacra Corona Unita has a turn over of around 2.5 billion Euro a year from its organised crime activities and is mainly from drugs, prostitution and arms trafficking.

Shocked: One eyewitness said: 'It was an infernal scene. Who could have done something like this? They were just kids'

Investigation: Italian firefighters inspect the site where an explosive device went off

In April 2009 two leading mobsters from the organisation were gunned down in their cars, Franco Romita and Giuseppe Trotta, were left virtually unrecognisable after the hit as their bodies were riddled with dozens of bullets.
Last week 35 people were arrested in a blitz by local police across Puglia, the region os southern Italy where the Sacra Corona Unita is based and also where Hollywood star Helen Mirren has a holiday home.

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