Bomb that killed schoolgirl ‘probably work of a lone individual, not mafia’

A BOMB attack that killed a teenage girl and injured ten other people in the southern Italian town of Brindisi was probably carried out by someone operating alone, a chief prosecutor has said, playing down initial suspicions of mafia involvement.

Saturday’s attack on the Francesca Morvillo Falcone school, a vocational training institute named after the wife of a famed anti-mafia judge, horrified Italy and sparked speculation it was the work of organised crime.

However, the Brindisi chief prosecutor in charge of the investigation, yesterday said it now appeared unlikely that either the Sicilian Mafia or the local version, known as the United Sacred Crown, was behind the attack.

“The most probable hypothesis is that it was an isolated act,” Marco Dinapoli said at a news conference held metres away from where the attack took place. “It seems improbable, not entirely to be excluded, but improbable, that it is connected with mafia networks,” he said.

Mr Dinapoli said police already had a facial composite picture of a suspect in the attack, which killed Melissa Bassi, 16.

Local media in Brindisi reported that two men, one a former soldier with knowledge of explosives, had been questioned by police and released. There was no confirmation from prosecutors.

Dinapoli said investigators had a video that showed a mature individual activating a remote control to detonate the bomb, made of three gas canisters, and hidden in a container outside the school gates. The bomb exploded as pupils got off the school bus.