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A trio of officers lost their lives and no fewer than 15 people got wounded in what appears to be intentional gas explosion at a farmhouse in Italy's north.

Sequence of Events

The blast occurred as officers and emergency crews went into the residence near the city of Verona to carry out an removal notice for a brother and sister trio in their late 50s and mid-60s.

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

Arrests and Aftermath

A man and a woman got detained at the location and one more individual who escaped following the incident was found soon after. Each of them have been taken to medical facility.

The explosion could be heard some 5km (3 miles) away and footage from the area displayed the property reduced to a mass of wreckage.

“We are in a period of mourning,” said the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi, who noted that efforts had been made to evict the brother and sister trio in the earlier times.

Background and Motive

The head of the Veneto area, the regional head, explained the farmhouse was subject to an removal notice due to debts incurred by the property owners.

Conflict resolution experts had been dispatched to talk with the family members who had secured themselves into the house. When the Carabinieri reached the location just after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), officials believe a family member caused the detonation.

“Upon entering the house, we were confronted with an act of absolute madness,” local police chief the police commander stated to news outlets.

A propane tank had been set off, and the explosion immediately struck our officers,” he said.

Incendiary devices were also discovered at the property, the Interior Minister stated.

Impact Assessment

Those injured by the blast consisted of eleven more officers of the Carabinieri as well as three officers of national police and a emergency responder.

As stated by the prosecuting attorney, the property was in a derelict state and had lacked electrical service.

The prosecutor was convinced the explosion had happened on a level above the doorway and told journalists it was a “premeditated and voluntary homicide”. Just prior to the incident, he said officers had “noticed a hissing sound, presumably the propane tanks being opened”.

Local Response

“All of us understood the scenario was critical,” local residents stated to reporters, adding that the trio had in the past stated to “detonate the property” rather than vacate the property.

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

Defence Minister the Defence Minister stood alongside other political leaders in honoring the trio of personnel who had died in the line of duty.