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A trio of officers were killed and more than a dozen others sustained injuries in an apparently intentional blast caused by gas at a rural property in Italy's north.

Sequence of Events

The blast took place as police and firefighters entered the residence near the Verona region to execute an eviction order for three siblings in their late 50s and mid-60s.

Each of the three victims who died served in the Italian military police.

Legal Proceedings

A man and a woman got detained at the site and another man who fled subsequent to the incident was found shortly later. The trio have been admitted to hospital.

The explosion could be audible approximately 5 kilometers away and images from the scene showed the structure left as a heap of debris.

“This moment calls for sorrow,” stated the Interior Minister Minister Piantedosi, who mentioned that previous tries had been made to remove the three family members in the previous occasions.

Property Situation

The leader of the Veneto area, President Zaia, explained the farmhouse was under an court order due to financial obligations accumulated by the siblings.

Mediators had been dispatched to speak to the family members who had secured themselves into the home. When the officers came shortly after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), officials believe one of the siblings caused the explosion.

“As we went inside, we encountered a completely deranged action,” provincial police commander the police commander informed the media.

A gas canister had been activated, and the explosion immediately struck our personnel,” he explained.

Incendiary devices were also located at the site, the minister confirmed.

Injuries and Destruction

Those injured by the explosion included 11 other members of the police force as well as three members of Italy's state police and a firefighter.

Based on information from the local prosecutor, the farmhouse was in a poor condition and had no electricity.

The prosecutor thought the blast had taken place on a floor above the entrance and informed reporters it was a “premeditated and voluntary homicide”. Shortly before the blast, he said personnel had “detected a whistling noise, probably the gas canisters being turned on”.

Local Response

“All of us understood the scenario was critical,” neighbors told reporters, noting that the three had earlier warned to “detonate the property” rather than vacate the property.

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

Defence Minister the Defence Minister stood alongside other political leaders in commemorating the three officers who had died in the service of their country.