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A trio of officers lost their lives and no fewer than 15 additional individuals sustained injuries in an apparently deliberate gas explosion at a country home in northern Italy.

Event Timeline

The explosion occurred as law enforcement and fire personnel went into the house close to the city of Verona to execute an removal notice for three siblings who were older adults.

Each of the three officers killed served in the Carabinieri force.

Legal Proceedings

One male and one female got detained at the scene and another man who ran away following the explosion was found soon after. All three have been taken to the hospital.

The explosion could be noticed approximately 5 kilometers away and footage from the scene revealed the structure turned into a mass of wreckage.

“This is a time for grieving,” commented the Minister of the Interior the Interior Minister, who added that attempts had been made to remove the three siblings in the previous occasions.

Background and Motive

The leader of the Veneto area, the regional head, said the property was under an removal notice due to financial obligations accumulated by the property owners.

Conflict resolution experts had been assigned to talk with the family members who had locked themselves into the house. When the Carabinieri reached the location soon after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), authorities believe a family member triggered the blast.

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

A gas canister had been activated, and the blast precisely impacted our personnel,” he explained.

Petrol bombs were also found at the property, the minister said.

Casualties and Damage

Injured individuals by the incident consisted of an additional 11 personnel of the police force as well as three officers of Italy's state police and a emergency responder.

Based on information from the Verona prosecutor, the building was in a derelict state and had was without power.

The official believed the blast had occurred on a level above the doorway and informed the press it was a “premeditated and voluntary homicide”. Shortly before the incident, he mentioned members had “detected a whistling noise, likely the gas canisters being activated”.

Local Response

“We all knew the situation was dire,” nearby inhabitants stated to reporters, noting that the family members had previously threatened to “blow themselves up” rather than vacate the property.

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

The Defense Minister Minister Crosetto united with other government officials in paying tribute to the three men who had been killed in the line of duty.