ROME — Italian investigators are considering whether a tunnel intrusion and a bomb threat that stopped high-speed trains between Florence and Bologna was the work of anarchists, Italian state TV said Wednesday.
Train traffic was suspended for more than four hours Tuesday evening on the heavily traveled line between the two cities after a conductor noticed people walking inside the tunnel. About the same time, someone anonymously reported a bomb in the tunnel, Italy's state radio said.
Thousands of travelers were stuck waiting in stations during Italy’s peak summer vacation period. A state railway spokesperson told RAI radio that train service resumed after a search of the tunnel turned up no bomb.
Railroad police and the anti-terrorism unit of the Italian state police were looking into whether the tunnel interference might have been done as some kind of vendetta. Hours earlier, nine suspected anarchists were arrested in Genoa and other northern Italian cities, news agency LaPresse reported Wednesday.
The tunnel had surveillance cameras inside it that were found damaged but which captured a group of people walking along the tracks, LaPresse said.
Investigators found cables cut near the tunnel, RAI state TV said.
The anti-terrorism police unit, known by the Italian acronym DIGOS, was trying to trace cellphone connections in the area in hopes of tracking down the caller who said there was a bomb in the tunnel, LaPresse said.
The nine people arrested Tuesday were under investigation on charges of suspected instigation of terrorism and support for terrorism. Italian news reports cited a magistrate’s arrest warrant order that said the writings of the suspects included exhortations to attack targets involved in weapons manufacturing and sales.
Several of the nine were placed under house arrest, and others were ordered to sign in regularly at a police station, RAI TV said.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
