Bologna, August 2, 2026 – Bologna remembers the massacre of August 2 of 1980, when at 10:25 a.m. a bomb exploded at the station causing 85 victims and over 200 injured. As every year, the city takes to the streets to come together around the families of the victims in a day of commemoration and remembrance: the central moment is represented by the parade which, after the completion of the tram construction works, returns to march along via Indipendenza up to the arrival at the railway station. Here at 10 a.m. Paolo Lambertini will speak for the first time as president of the association of victims’ families; then the triple whistle of the train and the minute of silence at exactly 10:25 a.m.
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Before the parade, the mayor Matteo Lepore met with the families of the victims of the massacre together with the highest authorities in the Cortile d’Onore of Palazzo d’Accursio. Also present were Michele de Pascale, president of the Emilia-Romagna Region, and Nicola Molteni, Undersecretary of State for the Interior. 46 years after the Massacre, the memory and pain for that fascist-motivated attack have not faded, which has not yet written all the necessary pages to fully ascertain the truth. As announced in recent days by Potere al Popolo, today a separate section from the parade will also march to remember, during August 2, “also the other state murders and massacres, from that of Fakir to the Uno Bianca” writes Pap on social media.
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Under the Towers also the PD secretary Elly Schlein: “46 years after the infamous neo-fascist massacre, we are and will continue to be alongside the Association of the victims’ families, which fights to bring out the whole truth.” Schlein assures that “we will not allow attempts to rewrite history. History is fixed in the sentences obtained also thanks to the work of the Association of the families and the Bologna General Prosecutor’s Office, to whom we owe great gratitude for having gone all the way in the search for truth and justice, also in the trial of the masterminds.” The Democrat adds that “it is written in those sentences that it was a neo-fascist massacre, with a subversive intent and carried out also together with deviant State apparatuses.” Now it is time to “continue the search for truth and the necessary investigations, as also requested today by the victims’ families. The Democratic Party will do its part.” Finally, a call for the full implementation of the victims’ legislation: “They are right to ask for all the answers they are owed, including the full implementation of the victims’ law. The truth is a right above all for the families, but also for all Italian citizens”.
Positioned on via Rizzoli, waiting for the long parade to pass, there is the Potere al Popolo section, supported by the Osa, Cambiare Rotta collectives and by Rete dei Comunisti and Usb. Above they hold a banner recalling “state murders and massacres”. The poster retraces the blood of the Uno Bianca reaching up to “Fakir: truth and justice. Abolish the criminal shield now”.
The intervention of Undersecretary Nicola Molteni: that of August 2, 1980, at 10:25 a.m., was “A neo-fascist terrorist attack that tore apart the lives of many people, of a city, of an entire nation. Being here in Bologna means gathering in front of one of the most painful wounds in the history of our country. It is a date that belongs to all of Italy”.
The parade has started on via Indipendenza. At the head of the parade, after greeting the mayor, there are Yossra and Khadija Fakir, respectively niece and sister of Abderrahim Fakir, the 42-year-old who died during a police stop in Pilastro on July 19.
“We must be vigilant but also proud of what this city has been able to do. If it were not for the association of the victims’ families and the city of Bologna – said Governor Michele de Pascale – what happened would have been one of many terrorist attacks. It would have remained a black page attributable to a group of neo-fascists acting on their own initiative. But someone fought to keep the light on, men and women have been able to redeem the Republic. Whoever commits a terrorist act takes into account that they may pay for the act they commit. However, those who carried out this attack felt reassured. Masterminds, terrorists, neo-fascists, misleaders did not know that 46 years later we would all still be here. They did not know that the community, the families and the institutions would continue to fight this battle. Whoever in the future commits these acts putting democracy at risk should know that this is the response”.
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After the intervention of Mayor Lepore, it is Paolo Lambertini who speaks in the courtyard of Palazzo d’Accursio. The first time as president of the Association of the victims’ families: “We are an association that has been able to endure,” obtaining “important shares of truth”, among which “having the names of the masterminds, in addition to confirmation in 17 sentences that the massacre’s origin is fascist”. The “judicial truths should and could be the starting point for a careful re-reading of the massacres”. Here, the request to Undersecretary Nicola Molteni: “From our point of view, the work of the Antimafia commission is disappointing. The feeling is that of a renunciation to deepen procedural and investigative elements. Do we want to investigate Stefano delle Chiaje’s role? I say this to every party representative who cares about institutional cleanliness”. The association “insists on knowing the root of evil, like the one that struck us. But we have faith in the institutions, otherwise we would not be here”. The thought then goes to law 206, for the victims of massacres and terrorism, “a request we have also made in previous years. But we are still here waiting for answers”. Finally, the commitment in schools: “An operation to consolidate relationships and visibility could be done. But the investment is zero”.
“On August 2, 1980 we lost 85 people, it is the most important day in the history of our city. It is a day of death but also one in which hope began, from that day Bologna gathered rubble, helped the victims”. These are the words of Mayor Matteo Lepore. “Since then – he said – our history has changed differently from the intentions of those who put that bomb, our democracy has been stronger since then and this march is the pillar of democracy”. “I want to thank – he added – all the law enforcement forces present, thanking them for what they do every day. Many have lost their lives as escorts, in investigations and in general in the fulfillment of their duty”, he said inviting the families of the victims of the August 2 massacre and all those present in the town hall courtyard to applaud. Lepore also thanked “those who represent justice, magistrates and lawyers, because without them we would not have reached the final sentences”.
“August 2, 1980 remains a deep wound in the history of our country, a day when violence tore apart the daily life of hundreds of people, leaving a dramatic toll of 85 victims and over 200 injured”. Remembers the Italian Red Cross (Cri) “coming together with respect and closeness to the families of those who lost their lives and to those who still bear the marks of that tragedy. In those moments of darkness, however, the light of solidarity emerged strongly, translated into the immediate mobilization of rescuers, healthcare personnel, citizens and volunteers“.”From the first moments after the explosion at 10:25, the men and women of the Italian Red Cross rushed to the station square, working tirelessly among the rubble. An intervention guided by the deepest sense of humanity, the first and fundamental principle of the Movement, which required acting promptly to prevent and alleviate suffering – emphasizes the Italian Red Cross -. In those frantic hours, ambulances shuttled nonstop, makeshift vehicles were escorted by medical and volunteer personnel, while transfusion centers recorded kilometer-long lines of citizens ready to donate blood. A spontaneous and collective response, in which rescuers worked side by side, without any distinction, focusing solely on the needs of the injured to provide logistical and health support”. “August 2, 1980 – says president Rosario Valastro – represents one of the darkest pages for our country, yet, precisely among the dust and rubble of that devastation, the whole of Italy witnessed a extraordinary and moving mobilization of humanity”.
The clock at Bologna station, stopped at the minute of the attack, 10:25, “still tells today the inhumanity of the subversive fascist design that tried to undermine the heart of our democracy. However, the terrorists had to face the united and firm response of society and the State, which never bowed”. These are the words of the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi posted on social media, recalling the explosion 46 years ago in Bologna “of the deadly device that broke the lives of 85 people and injured more than 200, leaving an indelible mark on the country’s civil conscience”. Today, “on this tragic anniversary, I send a heartfelt thought to the families of the victims who, despite the pain, have never stopped asking for truth and justice for their loved ones. Honoring the fallen of the Bologna massacre – says Piantedosi, who in the past represented the Meloni Government at the August 2 ceremonies – also means taking a clear stand against all forms of hatred and violence: a warning that, year after year, is renewed and urges us to defend the values of freedom and justice at the foundation of our Republic”.
The commemorative parade of the neo-fascist massacre of August 2, 1980 at Bologna station will return to travel along via Indipendenza. The traditional route of the event has been restored after the end of the tram works.
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