Police investigating hoax email bomb threat received by all schools

Updated at 12:14pm with government statement

Police are investigating a hoax bomb threat received by all schools in Malta and Gozo simultanously on Monday morning that caused panic outside some school.

The schools have since been informed by the police to continue with lessons as normal.

The post has since been deleted from Facebook

Sources close to the police had told MaltaToday earlier that all schools - State, private and church - appeared to have received the generic bomb threat via an email from what appears to be a foreign IP address.

“All schools received the same email and the Naxxar Higher Secondary was the first to raise the alarm, which triggered the first response. Over a span of minutes it started becoming clear that the same email threat was received by all schools across Malta and Gozo,” the source said. The police immediately started doubting the credibility of the threat.

Before the extent of the threat was known a police spokesperson had told MaltaToday that five schools in the following localities were affected: Naxxar, Sliema, St Julian’s, Ħamrun and Pieta.

In a Facebook post that was later deleted, Home Affairs minister Byron Camilleri said that one of the bomb scares was at Higher Secondary in Naxxar and the police, together with the AFM’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal, were on site.

The sources said that after the initial response it started becoming clear that the threat was received by all schools and not just the five that initially raised the alarm.

The bomb threat caused scenes of panic outside some schools as children and educators evacuated the buildings. The situation is now under control.

Statement by education and home affairs ministries

In a statement the education and home affairs ministries confirmed that all schools received "an identical email" containing a bomb threat, which following an assessment was deemed to be a "non-specific" threat. Following consultation with law enforcement, the schools were eventually told to continue with lessons as normal.

The Education Ministry said it will continue following up on the matter while the police's Cyber Crime Unit is investigating the hoax.