🔗 Share this article

Three police officers perished and no fewer than 15 people sustained injuries in an apparently intentional detonation from gas at a rural property in the northern part of Italy.

Event Timeline

The blast took place as police and firefighters entered the property close to the city of Verona to execute an eviction order for three siblings aged in their 50s and 60s.

The three victims who died served in the Carabinieri force.

Investigation Developments

A man and a woman got detained at the site and a third person who ran away subsequent to the incident was apprehended shortly later. Each of them have been taken to medical facility.

The detonation could be noticed some 5km (3 miles) away and footage from the scene displayed the property left as a mass of wreckage.

“This moment calls for sorrow,” commented the Interior Minister Minister Piantedosi, who noted that efforts had been made to evict the three family members in the earlier times.

Financial Context

The leader of the region of Veneto, the regional head, said the residence was subject to an court order due to unpaid amounts accrued by the three owners.

Mediators had been assigned to talk with the brothers and sister who had secured themselves into the property. When the Carabinieri came shortly after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), investigators believe one of the residents caused the explosion.

“Upon entering the house, we were confronted with an act of absolute madness,” provincial police commander the police commander informed the media.

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

Incendiary devices were also located at the residence, the Interior Minister said.

Casualties and Damage

The wounded by the blast comprised 11 other members of the military police as well as three officers of Italy's state police and a emergency responder.

Based on information from the prosecuting attorney, the farmhouse was in a derelict state and had was without power.

The official was convinced the detonation had taken place on a level above the access point and stated to the press it was a “intentional and planned killing”. Shortly before the blast, he revealed members had “heard a whistle, likely the gas cylinders being turned on”.

Local Response

“We all knew the situation was dire,” neighbors informed local news, adding that the trio had previously threatened to “detonate the property” rather than vacate the property.

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

The Defense Minister Minister Crosetto united with other political leaders in honoring the trio of personnel who had been killed in the performance of their duties.