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Three members of law enforcement lost their lives and at least 15 people got wounded in an apparently intentional blast caused by gas at a country home in the northern part of Italy.

Sequence of Events

The blast occurred as law enforcement and fire personnel entered the residence near the city of Verona to enforce an court-ordered eviction for two brothers and a sister in their late 50s and mid-60s.

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

Legal Proceedings

A man and a woman were arrested at the scene and one more individual who ran away after the incident was found not long after. Each of them have been admitted to hospital.

The detonation could be heard some 5km (3 miles) away and photographs from the area displayed the property reduced to a pile of rubble.

“This is a time for grieving,” said Interior Minister Minister Piantedosi, who added that efforts had been made to displace the three family members in the earlier times.

Financial Context

The leader of the Veneto region, the regional head, stated the residence was subject to an court order due to unpaid amounts incurred by the property owners.

Mediators had been sent to talk with the brothers and sister who had locked themselves into the property. When the officers reached the location just after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), investigators suspect one of the siblings set off the explosion.

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

“A gas cylinder had been activated, and the detonation immediately struck our personnel,” he added.

Petrol bombs were also found at the site, the Interior Minister stated.

Casualties and Damage

Injured individuals by the explosion comprised 11 other members of the military police as well as a trio of personnel of Italy's state police and a firefighter.

According to the local prosecutor, the farmhouse was in a dilapidated shape and had lacked electrical service.

The prosecutor thought the blast had happened on a level above the access point and told journalists it was a “deliberate and pre-planned murder”. Just prior to the explosion, he said officers had “heard a whistle, likely the propane tanks being turned on”.

Local Response

“We all knew the situation was dire,” nearby inhabitants informed local news, adding that the three had earlier warned to “cause an explosion” rather than be evicted.

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

The Defense Minister the Defence Minister joined other political leaders in honoring the trio of personnel who had died in the service of their country.