| Train 904 bombing | |
|---|---|
 An UIC-X carriage was destroyed following the bombing | |
| Location | San Benedetto Val di Sambro, Apennine Base Tunnel, Emilia-Romagna, Italy |
| Date | 23 December 1984 19:08 (UTC+1) |
Attack type | Bomb attack |
| Deaths | 16 |
| Injured | 267 |
| Perpetrators | Giuseppe Calò, Guido Cercola, Franco Di Agostino (members of the Sicilian Mafia), Friedrich Schaudinn (German engineer)[1] |
The Train 904 bombing (Italian: Strage del Rapido 904 or Strage di Natale[1] (Christmas massacre)) was a terror attack which occurred on 23 December 1984, in the Apennine Base Tunnel. A bomb on the 904 express train (Rapido 904) from Naples to Milan was detonated, killing 16 and wounding 266. The bombing location was near the location of the Italicus Express bombing ten years previously.
The motive behind the bomb attack was to distract Italian security forces from investigating the Sicilian Mafia after the testimony of the Mafia turncoat Tommaso Buscetta to Antimafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone had led to a series of arrest warrants in September 1984 that subsequently would lead to the Maxi Trial against 475 Mafia defendants.[2] Mafia boss Giuseppe Calò, also known as "Pippo", was convicted for ordering and organising the attack in February 1989. In April 2011 Mafia "boss of bosses" Salvatore Riina was indicted for ordering the bombing.[3]
- ^ a b "Strage di Natale, ergastolo al boss" (in Italian). corriere.it. 25 November 1992. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014.
- ^ (in Italian) Rapido 904: "Un intreccio tra mafia, camorra e politica", Il Fatto Quotidiano, April 27, 2011.
- ^ (in Italian) Strage rapido 904, ordine custodia a Riina, ANSA, April 27, 2011.