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A trio of officers perished and at least 15 people were hurt in what appears to be premeditated gas explosion at a rural property in Italy's north.

How It Happened

The explosion was triggered as police and firefighters entered the residence close to the Verona region to execute an court-ordered eviction for two brothers and a sister aged in their 50s and 60s.

All three victims who died belonged to the Carabinieri force.

Legal Proceedings

Two individuals got detained at the location and a third person who ran away after the incident was located not long after. Each of them have been taken to the hospital.

The explosion could be noticed approximately 5 kilometers away and images from the area revealed the structure reduced to a heap of debris.

“This moment calls for sorrow,” said the Minister of the Interior the Interior Minister, who added that previous tries had been made to displace the brother and sister trio in the past.

Background and Motive

The leader of the Veneto region, the regional head, said the property was facing an removal notice due to debts accrued by the three owners.

Negotiators had been assigned to engage the siblings who had barricaded themselves into the property. When the Carabinieri came shortly after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), officials think one of the residents set off the detonation.

“When we entered the property, we faced an utterly insane act,” provincial police commander Claudio Papagno informed the media.

“A gas cylinder had been ignited, and the detonation directly hit our personnel,” he added.

Molotov cocktails were also located at the residence, the Interior Minister said.

Injuries and Destruction

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

According to the prosecuting attorney, the building was in a derelict state and had was without power.

The prosecutor thought the explosion had taken place on a floor above the access point and told the press it was a “intentional and planned killing”. Moments before the blast, he mentioned personnel had “heard a whistle, presumably the gas cylinders being turned on”.

Community Reaction

“We all knew the situation was dire,” local residents told local news, adding that the three 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 Minister Crosetto stood alongside other government officials in commemorating the three officers who had died in the line of duty.