🔗 Share this article

Three police officers perished and no fewer than 15 people sustained injuries in an apparently premeditated blast caused by gas at a rural property in Italy's north.

Sequence of Events

The detonation occurred as officers and emergency crews went into the house in the vicinity of Verona to execute an removal notice for a brother and sister trio in their late 50s and mid-60s.

The three officers killed served in the Carabinieri force.

Arrests and Aftermath

One male and one female were taken into custody at the site and another man who ran away subsequent to the explosion was found shortly later. The trio have been taken to hospital.

The detonation could be heard approximately 5 kilometers away and photographs from the scene revealed the building reduced to a pile of rubble.

“We are in a period of mourning,” commented the Interior Minister Minister Piantedosi, who added that previous tries had been made to remove the three family members in the past.

Financial Context

The leader of the Veneto area, President Zaia, stated the farmhouse was subject to an removal notice due to debts accumulated by the siblings.

Conflict resolution experts had been sent to engage the brothers and sister who had secured themselves into the house. When the Carabinieri arrived soon after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), investigators suspect one of the siblings caused the detonation.

“When we entered the property, we faced an utterly insane act,” regional commander Claudio Papagno informed the media.

A gas canister had been activated, and the detonation precisely impacted our officers,” he said.

Molotov cocktails were also located at the residence, the Interior Minister confirmed.

Impact Assessment

Those injured by the blast comprised an additional 11 personnel of the police force as well as three members of Italy's state police and a firefighter.

Based on information from the local prosecutor, the property was in a poor condition and had no electricity.

The prosecutor thought the detonation had occurred on a story above the doorway and informed the press it was a “deliberate and pre-planned murder”. Moments before the explosion, he mentioned personnel had “detected a whistling noise, presumably the gas cylinders being opened”.

Community Reaction

“We all knew the situation was dire,” nearby inhabitants informed local news, adding that the family members had previously threatened to “detonate the property” rather than leave the house.

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

Defence Minister the Defence Minister stood alongside other government officials in paying tribute to the three men who had lost their lives in the performance of their duties.