ROME: A bomb went off in front of a school in the southern Italian city of Brindisi on Saturday, killing one student and injuring seven as they were going into class, a local emergency official said.

A girl, whose age was not given, “did not survive”, Fabiano Amati, said on the television news channel Sky TG24, adding that “two other pupils are in a critical condition.”

The blast went off around 7:45 am (0545 GMT) as the students were arriving at the Francesca Morvillo Falcone vocational school.

First indications from security forces said the bomb had been placed in a container near the school.

According to the Internet site of the daily Repubblica there were two blasts, and the devices had apparently been left in backpacks in front of the school.

Italian media noted that the school is named after the wife of the famous anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone.

The judge, his wife and their three bodyguards were killed 20 years ago on May 23 1992 when the Sicilian Mafia planted half a tonne of dynamite on the road between Palermo's airport and the city centre.