🔗 Share this article

A trio of officers were killed and more than a dozen people were hurt in what appears to be intentional gas explosion at a country home in Italy's north.

Event Timeline

The explosion was triggered as police and firefighters went into the house close to Verona to enforce an court-ordered eviction for three siblings in their late 50s and mid-60s.

All three victims who died belonged to the Carabinieri force.

Arrests and Aftermath

Two individuals were taken into custody at the site and one more individual who ran away following the incident was located shortly later. The trio have been taken to the hospital.

The blast could be noticed some 5km (3 miles) away and photographs from the area displayed the building left as a mass of wreckage.

“This moment calls for sorrow,” commented the Interior Minister the Interior Minister, who added that efforts had been made to displace the brother and sister trio in the past.

Background and Motive

The president of the Veneto area, President Zaia, said the farmhouse was under an removal notice due to debts accumulated by the siblings.

Mediators had been assigned to engage the brothers and sister who had secured themselves into the property. When the police came shortly after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), authorities think one of the residents triggered the explosion.

“When we entered the property, we faced an utterly insane act,” provincial police commander Claudio Papagno stated to the media.

A gas canister had been ignited, and the blast directly hit our personnel,” he explained.

Incendiary devices were also located at the property, the minister confirmed.

Casualties and Damage

The wounded by the incident included 11 other members of the Carabinieri as well as three members of the state police and a firefighter.

According to the local prosecutor, the property was in a derelict state and had lacked electrical service.

He believed the explosion had occurred on a level above the entrance and informed reporters it was a “intentional and planned killing”. Shortly before the incident, he said personnel had “noticed a hissing sound, probably the propane tanks being turned on”.

Community Reaction

“We all knew the situation was dire,” local residents told reporters, adding that the trio had in the past stated to “cause an explosion” rather than vacate the property.

“The incident exacted a ‘dreadful, extremely sad and dramatic price’.”

The Defense Minister the Defence Minister stood alongside other government officials in commemorating the three men who had been killed in the performance of their duties.