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Three police officers were killed and more than a dozen others were hurt in what appears to be intentional detonation from gas at a farmhouse in Italy's north.

Sequence of Events

The explosion was triggered as officers and emergency crews entered the property near the city of Verona to carry out an court-ordered eviction for three siblings aged in their 50s and 60s.

All three victims who died served in the Carabinieri force.

Investigation Developments

A man and a woman were arrested at the location and one more individual who ran away subsequent to the blast was located not long after. Each of them have been admitted to medical facility.

The blast could be heard approximately 5 kilometers away and photographs from the area revealed the building turned into a heap of debris.

“We are in a period of mourning,” said the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi, who noted that attempts had been made to remove the three family members in the earlier times.

Background and Motive

The head of the Veneto area, the regional head, explained the property was facing an removal notice due to financial obligations incurred by the three owners.

Negotiators had been dispatched to talk with the family members who had barricaded themselves into the home. When the Carabinieri came soon after 03:00 (01:00 GMT), authorities think one of the siblings triggered the detonation.

“Upon entering the house, we were confronted with an act of absolute madness,” regional commander Claudio Papagno informed reporters.

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

Incendiary devices were also found at the site, the Interior Minister stated.

Injuries and Destruction

Those injured by the explosion consisted of an additional 11 personnel of the military police as well as a trio of personnel of national police and a firefighter.

As stated by the local prosecutor, the property was in a derelict state and had was without power.

The official was convinced the detonation had taken place on a level above the access point and told journalists it was a “deliberate and pre-planned murder”. Moments before the explosion, he said members had “heard a whistle, likely the gas cylinders being activated”.

Local Response

“All of us understood the scenario was critical,” local residents stated to Italian media, noting that the three had in the past stated to “blow themselves up” rather than be evicted.

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

Defence Minister Minister Crosetto united with other political leaders in honoring the trio of personnel who had lost their lives in the performance of their duties.