Today is Sunday August 2nd, 2020.

On this day in 1980,

Neophasists bombed a train station in Bologna, Italy, killing 85 people and injuring more than 200. Welcome to Today in True Crime, a parcast original.

Due to the graphic nature of today's crimes, listener discretion is advised. Extreme caution is advised

for listeners under 13. Today we're covering one of the deadliest acts of terror in

Italian history. It's come to be known as the Stragee de Bologna, the Bologna massacre.

Let's travel back in time to the morning of August 2nd, 1980, sometime around 1020 a.m.

Tourists, locals, workers, and travelers, all crammed into Bologna's central station, trying

to escape the mid-summer heat.

They were appreciating the train station's air conditioning,

but no one noticed an abandoned suitcase

lying on the floor of the second class waiting room,

not the news agents, porters or security persons.

In the waiting room, three-year-old Angela Frezu sat with her mother, Maria, and two friends.

They were about to board a train to Lake Garda in northern Italy.

But when the two large clocks outside the station struck 1025 a.m. an explosion erupted from the waiting room.

Screams of terror filled the air.

The west wing of the building emitted a strange flash of yellow light.

44 year old professor Malcolm Quantrill heard the shattering of glass and crumbling of brick

as he watched a ticket window disintegrate in front of his eyes.

Everyone around him started to run, many of them injured with broken limbs, blood pouring out of wounds. A 150-foot facade collapsed. The waiting area, a restaurant, and offices were destroyed by the

blast. Within minutes the search for survivors began police ambulances and citizens descended on the wreckage

...