🔗 Share this article

Three members of law enforcement perished and at least 15 additional individuals got wounded in a seemingly intentional gas explosion at a country home in Italy's north.

Event Timeline

The blast was triggered as law enforcement and fire personnel went into the property in the vicinity of the city of Verona to enforce an removal notice for two brothers and a sister aged in their 50s and 60s.

Each of the three victims who died were members of the Carabinieri military police.

Investigation Developments

A man and a woman were taken into custody at the scene and one more individual who ran away after the incident was apprehended not long after. Each of them have been transported to the hospital.

The blast could be heard approximately 5 kilometers away and footage from the scene showed the property left as a heap of debris.

“We are in a period of mourning,” stated the Minister of the Interior Minister Piantedosi, who noted that efforts had been made to displace the three family members in the previous occasions.

Background and Motive

The head of the Veneto region, the regional head, said the residence was subject to an removal notice due to financial obligations accumulated by the three owners.

Negotiators had been sent to talk with the family members who had barricaded themselves into the home. When the officers came soon after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), authorities suspect a family member set off the detonation.

“Upon entering the house, we were confronted with an act of absolute madness,” regional commander Claudio Papagno informed news outlets.

A propane tank had been set off, and the explosion directly hit our officers,” he said.

Incendiary devices were also located at the property, the Interior Minister stated.

Injuries and Destruction

Those injured by the incident included an additional 11 personnel of the military police as well as three officers of national police and a fire services member.

As stated by the local prosecutor, the building was in a poor condition and had was without power.

The official thought the blast had happened on a level above the doorway and stated to reporters it was a “intentional and planned killing”. Just prior to the incident, he mentioned personnel had “heard a whistle, presumably the gas cylinders being turned on”.

Neighbor Statements

“We all knew the situation was dire,” local residents informed local news, noting that the three had earlier warned to “detonate the property” rather than leave the house.

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

Minister of Defence the Defence Minister united with other government officials in commemorating the three men who had been killed in the performance of their duties.