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A trio of officers lost their lives and at least 15 people were hurt in an apparently deliberate detonation from gas at a rural property in northern Italy.

Sequence of Events

The explosion occurred as officers and emergency crews approached the house close to the city of Verona to carry out an removal notice for three siblings who were older adults.

The three officers killed were members of the Italian military police.

Legal Proceedings

A man and a woman were arrested at the scene and a third person who ran away after the blast was found soon after. All three have been transported to medical facility.

The explosion could be heard as far as 3 miles distant and photographs from the scene revealed the structure left as a mass of wreckage.

“This moment calls for sorrow,” commented the Interior Minister the Interior Minister, who noted that efforts had been made to displace the brother and sister trio in the past.

Property Situation

The leader of the Veneto region, the regional head, stated the property was subject to an eviction order due to unpaid amounts accumulated by the property owners.

Conflict resolution experts had been dispatched to speak to the family members who had barricaded themselves into the home. When the officers reached the location shortly after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), investigators think a family member caused the explosion.

“Upon entering the house, we were confronted with an act of absolute madness,” local police chief the police commander stated to the media.

“A gas cylinder had been set off, and the detonation precisely impacted our members,” he added.

Incendiary devices were also located at the site, the interior minister confirmed.

Impact Assessment

Injured individuals by the explosion included 11 other members of the military police as well as three members of Italy's state police and a fire services member.

As stated by the Verona prosecutor, the property was in a dilapidated shape and had no electricity.

He thought the blast had taken place on a level above the access point and told the press it was a “premeditated and voluntary homicide”. Moments before the incident, he revealed personnel had “noticed a hissing sound, presumably the gas canisters being opened”.

Neighbor Statements

“We all knew the situation was dire,” neighbors informed reporters, adding that the three had in the past stated to “blow themselves up” rather than leave the house.

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

The Defense Minister Guido Crosetto stood alongside other political leaders in paying tribute to the three men who had been killed in the performance of their duties.