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Three police officers were killed and no fewer than 15 others were hurt in an apparently deliberate gas explosion at a farmhouse in northern Italy.

Sequence of Events

The detonation was triggered as law enforcement and fire personnel entered the residence near Verona to execute an removal notice for a brother and sister trio who were older adults.

All three deceased individuals served in the Carabinieri military police.

Arrests and Aftermath

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

The blast could be heard approximately 5 kilometers away and photographs from the location showed the building reduced to a pile of rubble.

“This is a time for grieving,” said the Minister of the Interior Minister Piantedosi, who added that attempts had been made to remove the brother and sister trio in the earlier times.

Property Situation

The president of the Veneto region, President Zaia, explained the property was under an court order due to financial obligations incurred by the property owners.

Negotiators had been dispatched to talk with the siblings who had barricaded themselves into the property. When the officers arrived shortly after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), authorities suspect a family member triggered the explosion.

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

A propane tank had been set off, and the detonation precisely impacted our officers,” he explained.

Molotov cocktails were also found at the site, the minister confirmed.

Casualties and Damage

The wounded by the explosion included 11 other members of the military police as well as three members of the state police and a firefighter.

According to the prosecuting attorney, the building was in a derelict state and had was without power.

He thought the explosion had happened on a level above the doorway and stated to journalists it was a “deliberate and pre-planned murder”. Shortly before the blast, he said members had “detected a whistling noise, presumably the gas canisters being turned on”.

Local Response

“Everyone was aware the circumstances were severe,” neighbors informed reporters, mentioning that the three had earlier warned to “blow themselves up” rather than vacate the property.

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

The Defense Minister the Defence Minister stood alongside other government officials in honoring the three men who had died in the performance of their duties.