Bologna Centrale Bombing Memorial

On Saturday, 2nd August 1980, at 10.25 am, a bomb exploded in the 2nd-class waiting room at Bologna Centrale.

The blast affected the surrounding areas of the station, causing a part of the building to collapse and also struck the stationary Ancona–Chiasso train, standing at platform one.

At the time of the explosion the station was busy with commuters.  Among those present were students and workers on their daily commute and families and travellers from various Italian cities and other countries on their summer holidays.

The attack killed 85 people and injured a further 200 travellers. 

The youngest victim was only 3 years old, the oldest 86, with many victims been young adults in their teens and twenties.

The Bologna Centrale Bombing is the most deadly massacre to have occurred in Italy during the years of the ‘strategy of tension’, a period marked by terrorism and political violence.

The bomb left a physical gash in the wall of the waiting room.  During the reconstruction of the station, a part of the wall was preserved as a memorial in the current waiting room.  Anyone passing through can still see the exact location of the explosion and read the names engraved on the memorial plaque.

Every year, Bologna commemorates the 85 victims and their families.  At 10.25 am, on the 2nd August, the city observes a minute’s silence in front of the station.