🔗 Share this article

A trio of officers lost their lives and no fewer than 15 additional individuals got wounded in an apparently deliberate blast caused by gas at a rural property in northern Italy.

Sequence of Events

The blast occurred as police and firefighters approached the property in the vicinity of the Verona region to carry out an eviction order for a brother and sister trio aged in their 50s and 60s.

Each of the three officers killed served in the Italian military police.

Arrests and Aftermath

Two individuals were taken into custody at the location and another man who ran away after the blast was apprehended shortly later. The trio have been admitted to hospital.

The blast could be audible as far as 3 miles distant and photographs from the scene revealed the building reduced to a heap of debris.

“This moment calls for sorrow,” stated Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who noted that previous tries had been made to displace the brother and sister trio in the previous occasions.

Financial Context

The leader of the region of Veneto, Luca Zaia, explained the property was subject to an removal notice due to debts incurred by the three owners.

Conflict resolution experts had been dispatched to engage the brothers and sister who had secured themselves into the house. When the Carabinieri arrived just after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), authorities believe one of the residents set off the detonation.

“Upon entering the house, we were confronted with an act of absolute madness,” local police chief Claudio Papagno informed the media.

“A gas cylinder had been set off, and the blast immediately struck our personnel,” he added.

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

Casualties and Damage

Injured individuals by the incident consisted of 11 other members of the Carabinieri as well as a trio of personnel of the state police and a firefighter.

As stated by the local prosecutor, the farmhouse was in a derelict state and had lacked electrical service.

The prosecutor believed the explosion had happened on a level above the entrance and told the press it was a “premeditated and voluntary homicide”. Moments before the explosion, he revealed personnel had “noticed a hissing sound, presumably the gas canisters being activated”.

Community Reaction

“Everyone was aware the circumstances were severe,” nearby inhabitants informed local news, noting that the family members had previously threatened to “blow themselves up” rather than vacate the property.

“The blast resulted in a ‘horrific, deeply distressing and tragic cost’.”

Defence Minister the Defence Minister united with other political leaders in honoring the trio of personnel who had lost their lives in the line of duty.