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Three police officers lost their lives and no fewer than 15 others got wounded in an apparently deliberate detonation from gas at a country home in northern Italy.

Sequence of Events

The detonation was triggered as officers and emergency crews entered the residence near the Verona region to execute an removal notice for three siblings in their late 50s and mid-60s.

The three officers killed served in the Italian military police.

Investigation Developments

A man and a woman were arrested at the scene and a third person who escaped following the blast was located shortly later. All three have been transported to hospital.

The blast could be heard some 5km (3 miles) away and photographs from the scene showed the property left as a mass of wreckage.

“This moment calls for sorrow,” stated the Minister of the Interior Minister Piantedosi, who mentioned that efforts had been made to evict the three siblings in the past.

Background and Motive

The head of the region of Veneto, Luca Zaia, stated the residence was subject to an eviction order due to debts accrued by the siblings.

Conflict resolution experts had been dispatched to speak to the brothers and sister who had barricaded themselves into the home. When the officers arrived shortly after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), officials think one of the siblings caused the detonation.

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

“A gas cylinder had been set off, and the blast immediately struck our members,” he added.

Molotov cocktails were also found at the residence, the interior minister confirmed.

Injuries and Destruction

Injured individuals by the blast comprised 11 other members of the police force as well as three officers of the state police and a fire services member.

Based on information from the local prosecutor, the farmhouse was in a poor condition and had lacked electrical service.

He thought the detonation had occurred on a floor above the entrance and informed the press it was a “premeditated and voluntary homicide”. Shortly before the explosion, he revealed officers had “heard a whistle, likely the gas cylinders being opened”.

Local Response

“We all knew the situation was dire,” nearby inhabitants stated to Italian media, noting that the trio had in the past stated to “blow themselves up” rather than vacate the property.

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

Minister of Defence the Defence Minister stood alongside other elected representatives in paying tribute to the trio of personnel who had been killed in the performance of their duties.