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Three police officers have been killed and at least 15 other people injured in an apparently deliberate gas explosion at a farmhouse in northern Italy.<\/p>\n
The blast was triggered as police and firefighters went into the house near Verona to carry out an eviction order for two brothers and a sister in their late 50s and mid-60s. <\/p>\n
The three victims who died were members of the Carabinieri military police. <\/p>\n
A man and a woman were arrested at the scene and another man who fled after the explosion was located soon after. All three have been taken to hospital. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The blast could be heard some 5km (3 miles) away and images from the scene showed the building reduced to a pile of rubble. <\/p>\n
The head of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, said the farmhouse was subject to an eviction order due to debts accrued by the three owners.<\/p>\n
“This is a time for grieving,” said Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who added that attempts had been made to evict the three siblings in the past. <\/p>\n
“It was clear we were dealing with people who would resist in some way,” he said. <\/p>\n
Mediators had been sent to speak to the siblings who had barricaded themselves into the house. When the Carabinieri arrived shortly after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), officials believe one of the siblings triggered the blast.<\/p>\n
“Upon entering the house, we were confronted with an act of absolute madness,” provincial police commander Claudio Papagno told the Ansa news agency.<\/p>\n
“A gas cylinder had been ignited, and the explosion directly hit our officers,” he said.<\/p>\n
Petrol bombs were also found at the property, the interior minister said.<\/p>\n
Those injured by the blast included 11 other members of the Carabinieri and well as three members of Italy’s state police and a firefighter, Ansa reported.<\/p>\n
According to the Verona prosecutor, Raffaele Tito, the farmhouse was in a derelict state and had no electricity. <\/p>\n
The prosecutor believed the blast had taken place on a floor above the entrance and told reporters it was a “premeditated and voluntary homicide”. Shortly before the explosion, he said officers had “heard a whistle, probably the gas cylinders being opened”.<\/p>\n
“We all knew the situation was dire,” neighbours told Italian media, adding that the three had previously threatened to “blow themselves up” rather than leave the house.<\/p>\n
Piantedosi said the explosion had left a “terrible, very painful and dramatic toll”.<\/p>\n
Defence Minister Guido Crosetto joined other political leaders in paying tribute to the three men who had lost their lives in the service of their country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n