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A trio of officers were killed and more than a dozen additional individuals sustained injuries in what appears to be premeditated blast caused by gas at a farmhouse in northern Italy.

Sequence of Events

The blast took place as police and firefighters approached the residence close to the city of Verona to execute an removal notice for a brother and sister trio in their late 50s and mid-60s.

Each of the three deceased individuals served in the Italian military police.

Arrests and Aftermath

A man and a woman were taken into custody at the location and a third person who escaped following the explosion was located soon after. Each of them have been transported to the hospital.

The explosion could be heard some 5km (3 miles) away and footage from the scene revealed the property reduced to a pile of rubble.

“This is a time for grieving,” said the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi, who noted that efforts had been made to evict the three family members in the previous occasions.

Background and Motive

The president of the Veneto area, the regional head, said the residence was under an removal notice due to financial obligations accrued by the siblings.

Conflict resolution experts had been dispatched to engage the siblings who had barricaded themselves into the home. When the police came soon after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), officials think a family member set off the explosion.

“As we went inside, we encountered a completely deranged action,” regional commander Commander Papagno stated to reporters.

A gas canister had been set off, and the explosion precisely impacted our members,” he explained.

Molotov cocktails were also located at the residence, the Interior Minister stated.

Injuries and Destruction

Injured individuals by the explosion consisted of eleven more officers of the police force as well as three officers of the state police and a firefighter.

Based on information from the Verona prosecutor, the property was in a dilapidated shape and had lacked electrical service.

He was convinced the blast had happened on a floor above the entrance and stated to reporters it was a “deliberate and pre-planned murder”. Moments before the explosion, he revealed personnel had “detected a whistling noise, presumably the gas cylinders being opened”.

Community Reaction

“All of us understood the scenario was critical,” local residents stated to reporters, noting that the three had previously threatened to “detonate the property” rather than vacate the property.

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

Minister of Defence Minister Crosetto stood alongside other political leaders in paying tribute to the three officers who had died in the line of duty.