Police said they are investigating three incidents of damage to rail infrastructure around Bologna and have not ruled out the possibility that it may be linked to the opening of the Winter Olympics, Italy's ANSA news agency reported. Police said a structure housing a track switch was set on fire at dawn near the coastal city of Pesaro. Hours later, electrical cables used to detect train speeds were found to have been cut in Bologna, while a makeshift explosive device was found along a nearby track.
Salvini, leader of the far-right League party and a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition government, said he was "closely monitoring the situation". "The serious incidents of sabotage that occurred this morning near Bologna train station and in Pesaro, causing significant disruption to thousands of travellers, are worrying," he said in a statement. He noted the rail sabotage that paralysed France's high-speed train network hours ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony in July 2024.
