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Three members of law enforcement were killed and more than a dozen others sustained injuries in a seemingly deliberate gas explosion at a farmhouse in Italy's north.

Event Timeline

The blast was triggered as officers and emergency crews went into the house close to the Verona region to execute an eviction order for a brother and sister trio aged in their 50s and 60s.

The three deceased individuals served in the Italian military police.

Legal Proceedings

A man and a woman were arrested at the site and one more individual who escaped following the blast was found not long after. The trio have been taken to hospital.

The explosion could be heard as far as 3 miles distant and footage from the area showed the structure left as a mass of wreckage.

“This is a time for grieving,” stated the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi, who added that attempts had been made to remove the three family members in the past.

Background and Motive

The leader of the Veneto region, the regional head, explained the residence was under an removal notice due to unpaid amounts incurred by the siblings.

Mediators had been dispatched to talk with the family members who had secured themselves into the property. When the officers reached the location soon after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), authorities suspect one of the siblings triggered the blast.

“As we went inside, we encountered a completely deranged action,” regional commander Claudio Papagno told reporters.

A gas canister had been activated, and the blast directly hit our personnel,” he said.

Incendiary devices were also located at the site, the minister stated.

Injuries and Destruction

Those injured by the blast included an additional 11 personnel of the Carabinieri as well as three members of national police and a firefighter.

According to the Verona prosecutor, the building was in a dilapidated shape and had was without power.

He thought the detonation had occurred on a floor above the entrance and told the press it was a “premeditated and voluntary homicide”. Moments before the explosion, he revealed officers had “heard a whistle, presumably the gas cylinders being activated”.

Community Reaction

“All of us understood the scenario was critical,” nearby inhabitants informed local news, adding that the trio had earlier warned to “blow themselves up” rather than vacate the property.

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

Minister of Defence Guido Crosetto stood alongside other government officials in paying tribute to the three men who had lost their lives in the service of their country.