This week in Japan, death threats were faxed to some 300 schools and universities across the country. Threats sent to universities said that hundreds of bombs had been planted and demanded a ransom of 300,000 yen, just over 2,000 euros. Those sent to the schools demanded a ransom of 3 million yen, about 20,000 euros, and said that if the ransom did not arrive, students and teachers would be killed with Molotov cocktails and firearms.
The threats arrived between Monday and Tuesday and so far have not been followed up: no bombs have been found, nor have there been any attacks. Some provinces have closed many of the schools that had received the threats as a precaution. The police are looking for the person responsible for the threats, of whom almost nothing is known. Only the number from which the threats were sent, registered in Tokyo, is known. The fax is a tool still widely used in Japan, common in many offices. However, death threats of this type are rare, as are armed attacks.
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