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Three members of law enforcement lost their lives and more than a dozen additional individuals got wounded in an apparently premeditated detonation from gas at a rural property in northern Italy.

Sequence of Events

The explosion was triggered as officers and emergency crews approached the property in the vicinity of the Verona region to carry out an removal notice for three siblings who were older adults.

Each of the three deceased individuals were members of the Italian military police.

Legal Proceedings

One male and one female were taken into custody at the location and another man who ran away after the blast was found shortly later. All three have been transported to the hospital.

The explosion could be heard as far as 3 miles distant and footage from the location showed the structure left as a heap of debris.

“We are in a period of mourning,” stated Interior Minister the Interior Minister, who added that previous tries had been made to remove the three family members in the previous occasions.

Financial Context

The leader of the Veneto region, President Zaia, said the property was under an eviction order due to debts accrued by the property owners.

Mediators had been sent to speak to the family members who had secured themselves into the house. When the officers came just after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), officials think one of the residents set off the detonation.

“Upon entering the house, we were confronted with an act of absolute madness,” provincial police commander Claudio Papagno told news outlets.

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

Petrol bombs were also discovered at the site, the minister confirmed.

Injuries and Destruction

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

Based on information from the Verona prosecutor, the property was in a dilapidated shape and had was without power.

The official was convinced the blast had happened on a level above the entrance and stated to the press it was a “deliberate and pre-planned murder”. Moments before the explosion, he mentioned personnel had “detected a whistling noise, probably the gas cylinders being activated”.

Local Response

“Everyone was aware the circumstances were severe,” local residents told local news, noting that the family members had previously threatened to “detonate the property” rather than be evicted.

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

The Defense Minister Guido Crosetto united with other government officials in commemorating the three men who had died in the line of duty.