Car bomb explodes in Italy: Anti-mafia journalist targeted; daughter's close escape sparks national shock

A widespread outrage was sparked after the car of a prominent Italian journalist, facing threats from mafia, was blown up by a bomb overnight. It was a close call for his daughter as she had walked by 20 minutes before the explosion took place.

The explosion in Pomezia, near Rome, caused no injuries but damaged another car of journalist Sigfrido Ranucci and a house next door, according to AFP, which cited reports.




"The force of the explosion was so strong that it could have killed anyone passing by at that moment," Report, which broadcasts on RAI public television, said in a post on X.



Anti-mafia prosecutors are investigating the matter currently. According to AFP, Ranucci was living under police protection for several years due to death threats.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni strongly condemned the incident, calling it a "serious act of intimidation".

"The freedom and independence of information are non-negotiable values of our democracies, which we will continue to defend," she wrote on X.

Justice Minister Carlo Nordio said "an attack on a journalist is an attack on the state". Meanwhile, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi ordered to increase Ranucci's security "to the maximum".

Videos of the incident, capturing the aftermath, went viral on social media, showing twisted metal and shattered car windows.

"At least one kilo of explosives was used," Ranucci told the Corriere della Sera daily, who has also written a book on the mafia.

During a television programme in 2021, Ranucci recalled an incident when a former prisoner told him that mobsters "had given the order to kill you, but the hit "was stopped".

The journalist, while talking to Corriere, revealed that he received various threats recently and found two bullets outside his house.