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Three police officers were killed and more than a dozen people sustained injuries in a seemingly premeditated gas explosion at a farmhouse in the northern part of Italy.

Event Timeline

The detonation was triggered as police and firefighters went into the residence near the Verona region to carry out an eviction order for two brothers and a sister aged in their 50s and 60s.

The three victims who died were members of the Italian military police.

Investigation Developments

A man and a woman were taken into custody at the location and a third person who ran away subsequent to the explosion was found shortly later. All three have been admitted to medical facility.

The blast could be audible some 5km (3 miles) away and photographs from the location displayed the structure reduced to a pile of rubble.

“This moment calls for sorrow,” stated the Interior Minister the Interior Minister, who mentioned that previous tries had been made to displace the three family members in the previous occasions.

Financial Context

The leader of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, stated the property was facing an eviction order due to unpaid amounts accumulated by the property owners.

Mediators had been sent to talk with the siblings who had barricaded themselves into the property. When the police arrived just after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), authorities suspect one of the siblings caused the explosion.

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

A gas canister had been activated, and the detonation immediately struck our personnel,” he said.

Incendiary devices were also found at the site, the minister confirmed.

Injuries and Destruction

The wounded by the explosion consisted of 11 other members of the Carabinieri as well as a trio of personnel of the state police and a fire services member.

As stated by the local prosecutor, the building was in a derelict state and had no electricity.

He believed the blast had taken place on a floor above the entrance and told journalists it was a “deliberate and pre-planned murder”. Just prior to the blast, he revealed personnel had “heard a whistle, likely the gas cylinders being turned on”.

Local Response

“Everyone was aware the circumstances were severe,” neighbors stated to local news, noting that the three had previously threatened to “cause an explosion” rather than vacate the property.

“The incident exacted a ‘dreadful, extremely sad and dramatic price’.”

Minister of Defence Minister Crosetto joined other government officials in commemorating the three officers who had died in the performance of their duties.