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Three police officers were killed and more than a dozen others sustained injuries in a seemingly intentional gas explosion at a country home in the northern part of Italy.

How It Happened

The explosion was triggered as law enforcement and fire personnel entered the residence near the city of Verona to carry out an court-ordered eviction for two brothers and a sister aged in their 50s and 60s.

The three deceased individuals belonged to the Carabinieri force.

Investigation Developments

Two individuals were taken into custody at the scene and a third person who fled subsequent to the explosion was found shortly later. All three have been admitted to hospital.

The detonation could be audible approximately 5 kilometers away and photographs from the area showed the structure reduced to a pile of rubble.

“This moment calls for sorrow,” said Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who added that attempts had been made to displace the three family members in the earlier times.

Background and Motive

The head of the Veneto area, Luca Zaia, stated the farmhouse was under an eviction order due to unpaid amounts accumulated by the property owners.

Mediators had been dispatched to engage the brothers and sister who had locked themselves into the property. When the officers came shortly after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), officials suspect a family member triggered the detonation.

“As we went inside, we encountered a completely deranged action,” provincial police commander the police commander told news outlets.

A propane tank had been ignited, and the detonation precisely impacted our members,” he said.

Incendiary devices were also located at the residence, the Interior Minister said.

Impact Assessment

Those injured by the incident included 11 other members of the police force as well as three members of Italy's state police and a fire services member.

According to the local prosecutor, the farmhouse was in a derelict state and had was without power.

The prosecutor believed the explosion had happened on a story above the doorway and informed reporters it was a “premeditated and voluntary homicide”. Moments before the incident, he mentioned members had “noticed a hissing sound, likely the gas cylinders being turned on”.

Community Reaction

“All of us understood the scenario was critical,” local residents stated to local news, noting that the trio had earlier warned 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 stood alongside other elected representatives in commemorating the trio of personnel who had died in the service of their country.