🔗 Share this article

A trio of officers were killed and no fewer than 15 people got wounded in a seemingly deliberate blast caused by gas at a rural property in Italy's north.

Event Timeline

The explosion was triggered as police and firefighters went into the house in the vicinity of the Verona region to execute an removal notice for two brothers and a sister in their late 50s and mid-60s.

Each of the three officers killed were members of the Italian military police.

Investigation Developments

A man and a woman were arrested at the site and another man who escaped subsequent to the incident was located soon after. Each of them have been transported to the hospital.

The detonation could be noticed as far as 3 miles distant and photographs from the location showed the structure left as a pile of rubble.

“We are in a period of mourning,” commented Interior Minister Minister Piantedosi, who added that efforts had been made to displace the brother and sister trio in the past.

Financial Context

The head of the region of Veneto, Luca Zaia, stated the farmhouse was facing an eviction order due to unpaid amounts accumulated by the property owners.

Mediators had been dispatched to speak to the siblings who had barricaded themselves into the property. When the officers reached the location just after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), investigators think one of the residents caused the explosion.

“When we entered the property, we faced an utterly insane act,” local police chief Commander Papagno stated to the media.

A gas canister had been set off, and the detonation precisely impacted our officers,” he explained.

Petrol bombs were also found at the residence, the minister stated.

Casualties and Damage

The wounded by the explosion included an additional 11 personnel of the Carabinieri as well as three members of Italy's state police and a emergency responder.

According to the Verona prosecutor, the property was in a poor condition and had was without power.

The prosecutor believed the explosion had taken place on a story above the entrance and told journalists it was a “deliberate and pre-planned murder”. Moments before the incident, he said personnel had “detected a whistling noise, presumably the gas canisters being activated”.

Local Response

“We all knew the situation was dire,” neighbors told local news, noting that the three had previously threatened to “cause an explosion” rather than be evicted.

“The explosion had left a ‘terrible, very painful and dramatic toll’.”

Defence Minister Guido Crosetto stood alongside other government officials in honoring the trio of personnel who had lost their lives in the performance of their duties.