🔗 Share this article

Three police officers lost their lives and no fewer than 15 additional individuals sustained injuries in an apparently intentional detonation from gas at a farmhouse in Italy's north.

Event Timeline

The detonation occurred as law enforcement and fire personnel went into the residence in the vicinity of the city of Verona to enforce an eviction order for a brother and sister trio who were older adults.

All three officers killed served in the Carabinieri military police.

Legal Proceedings

One male and one female were taken into custody at the scene and one more individual who ran away after the explosion was located soon after. Each of them have been taken to medical facility.

The detonation could be noticed as far as 3 miles distant and footage from the location revealed the building turned into a heap of debris.

“This moment calls for sorrow,” commented the Minister of the Interior Minister Piantedosi, who noted that efforts had been made to remove the three siblings in the previous occasions.

Financial Context

The leader of the Veneto area, President Zaia, explained the farmhouse was under an removal notice due to unpaid amounts incurred by the three owners.

Mediators had been sent to speak to the siblings who had secured themselves into the house. When the police reached the location just after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), officials think one of the siblings caused the explosion.

“As we went inside, we encountered a completely deranged action,” regional commander Claudio Papagno stated to the media.

“A gas cylinder had been activated, and the explosion immediately struck our personnel,” he said.

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

Injuries and Destruction

Injured individuals by the explosion consisted of eleven more officers of the police force as well as three members of the state police and a firefighter.

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

He believed the explosion had taken place on a story above the access point and told journalists it was a “intentional and planned killing”. Just prior to the explosion, he mentioned personnel had “heard a whistle, likely the gas cylinders being activated”.

Community Reaction

“Everyone was aware the circumstances were severe,” nearby inhabitants informed local news, noting that the family members had in the past stated to “detonate the property” rather than be evicted.

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

The Defense Minister the Defence Minister stood alongside other elected representatives in paying tribute to the three men who had died in the line of duty.