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A trio of officers lost their lives and at least 15 others got wounded in a seemingly premeditated gas explosion at a rural property in Italy's north.

Sequence of Events

The explosion occurred as police and firefighters went into the property close to the Verona region to carry out an eviction order for a brother and sister trio who were older adults.

The three officers killed served in the Carabinieri military police.

Legal Proceedings

One male and one female were arrested at the scene and a third person who fled after the blast was located not long after. Each of them have been transported to medical facility.

The blast could be heard some 5km (3 miles) away and images from the area displayed the structure turned into a heap of debris.

“We are in a period of mourning,” stated Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who mentioned that efforts had been made to remove the three siblings in the past.

Property Situation

The president of the region of Veneto, Luca Zaia, explained the property was subject to an removal notice due to financial obligations incurred by the property owners.

Negotiators had been assigned to speak to the family members who had locked themselves into the home. When the Carabinieri reached the location just after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), authorities believe one of the siblings set off the explosion.

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

A propane tank had been set off, and the blast immediately struck our members,” he added.

Incendiary devices were also located at the property, the interior minister said.

Impact Assessment

Injured individuals by the blast included 11 other members of the Carabinieri as well as three members of the state police and a emergency responder.

Based on information from the Verona prosecutor, the farmhouse was in a derelict state and had was without power.

The prosecutor thought the detonation had taken place on a level above the access point and told the press it was a “premeditated and voluntary homicide”. Just prior to the blast, he mentioned members had “heard a whistle, probably the propane tanks being opened”.

Local Response

“All of us understood the scenario was critical,” neighbors told reporters, mentioning that the trio had previously threatened to “cause an explosion” rather than leave the house.

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

The Defense Minister Minister Crosetto joined other elected representatives in honoring the three men who had died in the line of duty.