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Three police officers lost their lives and more than a dozen additional individuals got wounded in an apparently deliberate detonation from gas at a farmhouse in Italy's north.

Sequence of Events

The explosion occurred as law enforcement and fire personnel approached the property near the city of Verona to carry out an eviction order for a brother and sister trio aged in their 50s and 60s.

The three deceased individuals were members of the Carabinieri force.

Arrests and Aftermath

One male and one female were taken into custody at the location and one more individual who escaped after the incident was located not long after. The trio have been admitted to medical facility.

The blast could be audible approximately 5 kilometers away and footage from the scene displayed the structure reduced to a mass of wreckage.

“This is a time for grieving,” commented the Minister of the Interior Minister Piantedosi, who added that previous tries had been made to remove the brother and sister trio in the earlier times.

Background and Motive

The president of the Veneto area, the regional head, explained the farmhouse was under an removal notice due to unpaid amounts incurred by the siblings.

Mediators had been assigned to talk with the siblings who had locked themselves into the property. When the Carabinieri came shortly after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), authorities suspect a family member set off the detonation.

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

A propane tank had been activated, and the explosion precisely impacted our personnel,” he said.

Molotov cocktails were also found at the property, the minister stated.

Impact Assessment

Injured individuals by the blast comprised eleven more officers of the police force as well as a trio of personnel of national police and a fire services member.

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

The official believed the detonation had taken place on a floor above the doorway and stated to reporters it was a “premeditated and voluntary homicide”. Shortly before the incident, he revealed officers had “detected a whistling noise, presumably the propane tanks being turned on”.

Local Response

“We all knew the situation was dire,” local residents told reporters, noting that the three had earlier warned to “blow themselves up” rather than be evicted.

“The blast resulted in a ‘horrific, deeply distressing and tragic cost’.”

Defence Minister Minister Crosetto joined other political leaders in paying tribute to the three officers who had been killed in the line of duty.