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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 gas explosion at a country home in Italy's north.

How It Happened

The blast occurred as officers and emergency crews approached the residence in the vicinity of Verona to enforce an eviction order for three siblings aged in their 50s and 60s.

Each of the three deceased individuals were members of the Carabinieri force.

Arrests and Aftermath

Two individuals were arrested at the scene and a third person who escaped after the blast was located soon after. Each of them have been transported to the hospital.

The blast could be heard as far as 3 miles distant and photographs from the location showed the property reduced to a heap of debris.

“We are in a period of mourning,” said the Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who noted that efforts had been made to remove the three siblings in the earlier times.

Property Situation

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

Mediators had been dispatched to talk with the brothers and sister who had secured themselves into the house. When the police arrived just after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), officials believe one of the siblings set off the blast.

“As we went inside, we encountered a completely deranged action,” provincial police commander Commander Papagno told reporters.

“A gas cylinder had been activated, and the blast directly hit our officers,” he added.

Petrol bombs were also discovered at the property, the minister said.

Impact Assessment

Those injured by the blast consisted of eleven more officers of the police force as well as a trio of personnel of national police and a emergency responder.

Based on information from the Verona prosecutor, the property was in a dilapidated shape and had no electricity.

He thought the blast had happened on a floor above the access point and told the press it was a “deliberate and pre-planned murder”. Moments before the incident, he said officers had “heard a whistle, presumably the gas cylinders being opened”.

Community Reaction

“We all knew the situation was dire,” neighbors informed reporters, noting that the family members had in the past stated to “cause an explosion” rather than leave the house.

“The incident exacted a ‘dreadful, extremely sad and dramatic price’.”

The Defense Minister the Defence Minister joined other elected representatives in commemorating the trio of personnel who had lost their lives in the performance of their duties.