 Initial newspaper reports cited 43 dead and 57 injured, including two British soldiers.Many of the victims were bathers who were attending an annual swimming event called "Scarioni Cup".The explosion had strong political implications, because local Italian leaders and the main Italian newspaper "L'Arena di Pola", suggested that it was a demonstration against the Italian feelings of the residents, and a way to reinforce the possible (later actual) annexation to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.