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Three police officers lost their lives and more than a dozen others sustained injuries in what appears to be intentional gas explosion at a rural property in the northern part of Italy.

Sequence of Events

The detonation was triggered as officers and emergency crews entered the property close to the city of Verona to enforce 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

One male and one female were arrested at the scene and a third person who fled following the explosion was apprehended shortly later. The trio have been transported to the hospital.

The blast could be audible as far as 3 miles distant and images from the scene showed the building turned into a pile of rubble.

“We are in a period of mourning,” stated the Interior Minister the Interior Minister, who mentioned that efforts had been made to remove the three siblings in the earlier times.

Financial Context

The head of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, said the residence was under an removal notice due to unpaid amounts accumulated by the three owners.

Conflict resolution experts had been assigned to speak to the siblings who had locked themselves into the house. When the Carabinieri came just after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), investigators believe one of the residents set off the blast.

“When we entered the property, we faced an utterly insane act,” provincial police commander Claudio Papagno told news outlets.

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

Incendiary devices were also located at the property, the minister said.

Injuries and Destruction

Those injured by the blast comprised 11 other members of the police force as well as a trio of personnel of national police and a emergency responder.

Based on information from the prosecuting attorney, the farmhouse was in a poor condition and had no electricity.

He believed the detonation had taken place on a level above the access point and told reporters it was a “premeditated and voluntary homicide”. Moments before the explosion, he said members had “detected a whistling noise, probably the gas cylinders being turned on”.

Community Reaction

“All of us understood the scenario was critical,” local residents informed reporters, noting that the three had previously threatened to “cause an explosion” rather than leave the house.

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

Defence Minister Minister Crosetto joined other political leaders in commemorating the trio of personnel who had lost their lives in the performance of their duties.