Italy remembers victims of deadly terrorist attack.

Italian president Sergio Mattarella on Wednesday recalled the victims of the Bologna Massacre in which 85 people were killed and 200 were injured on 2 August 1980.

In a statement, Mattarella noted that courts had ascertained the "neo-fascist nature" of the atrocity which was the most deadly attack in Italy since the end of world war two. 

The no-warning terror attack occurred at Bologna Centrale railway station during the so-called Anni di Piombo, or Years of Lead, a period of social turmoil and political violence in Italy from the late 1960s until the 1980s.

Five members of far-right terrorist groups were subsequently convicted in relation to the Bologna atrocity, while investigations also uncovered alleged links to Italy's secret services.

Il #2agosto 1980, alle 10.25, nella sala d'aspetto della stazione di Bologna Centrale, esplode un ordigno a tempo, contenuto in una valigia abbandonata, uccidendo 85 persone e ferendone oltre 200. È uno degli atti terroristici più gravi del secondo dopoguerra. pic.twitter.com/sMls5QP4kZ— raicultura (@RaiCultura) August 2, 2023

Mattarella noted that trials had brought to light "cover-ups and ignoble misdirections, in which secret associations and agents unfaithful to the state participated."

He said that regardless of the time that has passed since the massacre, "the search for complete truth is a duty that does not end", adding that the "credibility of democratic institutions is at stake."

#Mattarella: Le immagini della stazione di #Bologna, la mattina del 2 agosto 1980, ci hanno restituito un’umanità devastata da una ferocia inimmaginabile da un terrore che ambiva a pretendersi apocalittico. Il ricordo di quelle vittime è scolpito nella coscienza del nostro popolo— Quirinale (@Quirinale) August 2, 2023

The president offered renewed solidarity to the relatives of the victims "whose memory is engraved in the conscience of our people".

The clock at Bologna Centrale railway station is fixed permanently at 10.25 to commemorate the exact moment of the actrocity.