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Three members of law enforcement perished and more than a dozen people got wounded in what appears to be deliberate gas explosion at a rural property in the northern part of Italy.

Sequence of Events

The detonation took place as law enforcement and fire personnel entered the property close to Verona to execute an eviction order for two brothers and a sister aged in their 50s and 60s.

All three officers killed were members of the Italian military police.

Legal Proceedings

A man and a woman got detained at the site and another man who escaped subsequent to the explosion was apprehended soon after. Each of them have been admitted to hospital.

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

“We are in a period of mourning,” stated the Interior Minister the Interior Minister, who noted that previous tries had been made to displace the three siblings in the past.

Background and Motive

The president of the region of Veneto, Luca Zaia, said the property was facing an court order due to debts accrued by the three owners.

Mediators had been dispatched to speak to the family members who had secured themselves into the property. When the Carabinieri arrived soon after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), officials suspect one of the residents set off the detonation.

“As we went inside, we encountered a completely deranged action,” regional commander Claudio Papagno informed the media.

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

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

Casualties and Damage

Those injured by the incident consisted of 11 other members of the police force as well as a trio of personnel of the state police and a fire services member.

According to the local prosecutor, the building was in a dilapidated shape and had was without power.

The prosecutor thought the detonation had happened on a level above the entrance and stated to the press it was a “premeditated and voluntary homicide”. Shortly before the explosion, he said members had “noticed a hissing sound, probably the gas cylinders being activated”.

Community Reaction

“We all knew the situation was dire,” local residents told reporters, noting that the family members had in the past stated to “blow themselves up” rather than vacate the property.

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

Minister of Defence Guido Crosetto united with other government officials in paying tribute to the three men who had been killed in the performance of their duties.