Bomb attack in the Apennine base tunnel

In the bomb attack in the Apennine base tunnel on the Rapido 904 on December 23, 1984 in the Apennine base tunnel , 17 people died and 267 were injured.

initial situation

The Rapido 904 ran from Napoli Centrale to Milano Centrale . Due to the upcoming Christmas festivities , it was overstaffed with 700 travelers . His last traffic stop before the attack was Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station . There the assassin deposited the bomb in a luggage rack in a 2nd class carriage in the middle of the train . It was equipped with a remote-controlled detonator .

Shortly before Bologna , around 7 p.m., the train had to pass through the 18.5 km long Apennine base tunnel. The train had a speed of about 150 km / h here.

Attack and the consequences

At 7:08 p.m. the train had entered the tunnel about 8 km. At that moment the assassin triggered the explosion of the bomb by remote control . In doing so, he ensured that the bomb had maximum destructive power. The pressure of the explosion was so strong that most of the double-glazed panes on the train and the interior glazing were dented. The flying glass fragments injured many.

Since the emergency brake was pulled, there was a emergency brake and the train arrived about 8 km before the northern portal to a halt. The train conductor , injured himself, was able to reach one of the service phones and call for help. But this was very difficult to achieve. At first, smoke came out of the tunnel at the southern end, which prevented the emergency vehicles arriving there from entering the tunnel. In the end, this turned out to be a fortunate circumstance, as strong north winds kept the tunnel free of smoke and dust. Nobody knew what had happened. The lights on the train went out gradually when the batteries in the car were exhausted. It took an hour and a half for the first rescue vehicles to drive up to the train. But even then, rescue in the narrow tunnel was difficult. Due to the prevailing wind direction, the northern tunnel section remained relatively easily accessible. This led in the direction of nearby Bologna, where hospitals and other auxiliary services were available. After the attack on the Italicus Express in 1974 and the attack on the Bologna Centrale railway station in 1980 , emergency rescue plans existed, which have now taken effect.

The damaged train was recovered in sections: First, a diesel locomotive pulled the front part of the train out of the tunnel so that the rescue workers could get directly to the car in which the bomb had exploded. Then a rescue train was sent into the tunnel. The extent of the attack was still underestimated: only one doctor was on the rescue train. With this train, the injured were rescued from the rear part of the train, taken to the train station in San Benedetto Val di Sambro and then with ambulance vehicles across the street to a hospital in Bologna. The rescue train then immediately rescued other travelers. The exhaust gases from the diesel locomotive posed a further problem: Oxygen masks had to be issued to those who remained in the tunnel .

motive

The aim of the bombing was to distract the Italian security forces from investigations into the Cosa Nostra , after the confession of ex-mafioso Tommaso Buscetta to mafia investigator Giovanni Falcone in September led to a series of arrest warrants , which ultimately resulted in a major case against 474 Mafiosi, the so-called maxi trial , ended. Initially, however, extreme political groups were suspected of having carried out the attack. Letters of responsibility were also received from both right-wing and left-wing radical groups.

Judicial processing

In March 1985, Mafia bosses Pippo Calò and Guido Cercola were arrested in Rome for drug smuggling. On May 11, weapons, remote controls and the same explosives that had been used in the attack on express train 904 were found in the basement of Calò's hiding place near Poggio San Lorenzo . In January 1986, Public Prosecutor Pier Luigi Vigna brought charges against Calò and Cercola. Cercola had connections to the German explosives expert Friedrich Schaudinn.

In February 1989 Giuseppe Calò was convicted of organizing the bombing. Connections to both the Camorra and right-wing extremist, neo-fascist groups and the secret organization Propaganda Due have been proven. He and other accused mafiosi received life sentences . These were also upheld in the proceedings of the following authorities. Schaudinn managed to flee. Two accomplices sentenced to lesser sentences were murdered by the mafia in 1991. It was not until April 2011 that Salvatore Riina , head of the Sicilian Mafia Commission , was convicted of being behind the attack.

The same explosive that was used to attack the Rapido 904 was also used on July 19, 1992 in the assassination attempt on investigating magistrate Paolo Borsellino , who was investigating the Mafia.

swell

• Victims organization Associazione Feriti e Familiari delle Vittime della Strage sul Treno 904 of December 23, 1984: La Strage del Rapido 904 .
• Antonella Beccaria: Rapido 904: Un intreccio tra mafia, camorra e politica . In: Il Fatto Quotidiano . April 27, 2011.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Italy: Tunnel of Death . In: Time Magazine v. 7th January 1985.
2. ^ Offensive of Terror . In: Der Spiegel . No. 23 , 1993 ( online - June 7, 1993 ).
3. ↑ Strage rapido 904, ordine custodia a Riina . In: ANSA v. April 27, 2011.
4. ↑ http://www.wn.de/Welt/Vermischtes/2011/04/15-Tote-184-Verletzt-Mafia-Boss-Toto-Riina-auch-eines-blutigen-Zuganschlags-verdaechtig

Coordinates: 44 ° 8 ′ 20.8 ″  N , 11 ° 10 ′ 24.3 ″  E