Japan's 300 schools, universities receive bomb, death threats; panic ensues

Jan 27 (WION) - Hundreds of schools as well as universities across Japan received fax messages with bomb and death threats on Wednesday, stoking panic and subsequent closure of the schools.

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Most schools, however, were reopened on Thursday. According to an official statement, the threats were faxed to high schools and universities from a Tokyo-registered number. The authorities are yet to make any arrest(s) for the bomb threats.

Police said that no explosives were found in all the school buildings that it investigated after receiving the complaints related to bomb threats. The threats shocked the nation known for its historically low crime rate.

All the faxed threats used the name of a certain lawyer written in a unique font, according to the education ministry sources cited by the Japan Times.

According to law enforcement officials, the schools in Osaka, Saitama and Ibaraki began receiving the first wave of bomb threat messages on Monday.

Officials said that as many as 174 schools received bomb threats in Saitama prefecture, located just 31 km southwest of capital Tokyo. In total, threats were sent to about 300 senior high schools and universities across Japan, officials said. ...continue reading

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