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A trio of officers lost their lives and no fewer than 15 people got wounded in an apparently deliberate gas explosion at a farmhouse in northern Italy.

Sequence of Events

The explosion took place as police and firefighters entered the house in the vicinity of the city of Verona to carry out an removal notice for two brothers and a sister who were older adults.

All three deceased individuals served in the Carabinieri force.

Legal Proceedings

Two individuals were taken into custody at the scene and one more individual who escaped subsequent to the incident was located not long after. Each of them have been admitted to hospital.

The explosion could be audible approximately 5 kilometers away and footage from the scene displayed the structure turned into a heap of debris.

“We are in a period of mourning,” said Interior Minister Minister Piantedosi, who noted that attempts had been made to evict the brother and sister trio in the previous occasions.

Financial Context

The president of the Veneto area, Luca Zaia, said the farmhouse was facing an removal notice due to financial obligations accumulated by the siblings.

Negotiators had been dispatched to talk with the brothers and sister who had locked themselves into the house. When the officers came soon after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), officials believe one of the residents set off the detonation.

“As we went inside, we encountered a completely deranged action,” provincial police commander Commander Papagno told the media.

A propane tank had been activated, and the explosion directly hit our personnel,” he said.

Molotov cocktails were also found at the site, the Interior Minister confirmed.

Injuries and Destruction

Injured individuals by the blast consisted of eleven more officers of the police force as well as a trio of personnel of the state police and a emergency responder.

According to the local prosecutor, the farmhouse was in a derelict state and had lacked electrical service.

The prosecutor thought the explosion had occurred on a level above the doorway and told the press it was a “intentional and planned killing”. Moments before the incident, he revealed officers had “heard a whistle, probably the gas cylinders being turned on”.

Neighbor Statements

“We all knew the situation was dire,” nearby inhabitants informed Italian media, noting that the trio had previously threatened to “detonate the property” rather than leave the house.

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

The Defense Minister Guido Crosetto joined other political leaders in commemorating the trio of personnel who had died in the line of duty.