A violent explosion occurred Tuesday morning in the town of Castel d'Azzano in Verona province, northern Italy, inside a rural house, killing three members of the Carabinieri security forces and wounding 13 other police and firefighter personnel while they were carrying out a forced evacuation of the house.
Italy's ANSA news agency reported that two siblings, a man and a woman in their 60s, were arrested by security forces, while a third sibling remains at large.
According to preliminary investigations, police were in the process of executing an evacuation order for the three siblings' home, following several previous failed attempts. Gas cylinders exploded inside the building as soon as the door was opened, causing the two-story house to collapse and a massive fire to break out, completely consuming its interior.
For his part, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi described the incident as "a tragic loss," in which the loss of the three Carabinieri officers "honored the uniform to the ultimate sacrifice."
Firefighters and ambulance crews are still working at the explosion site, while authorities continue to investigate to determine the responsibilities and exact circumstances of the incident, which has been described as the most violent in recent years in the Veneto region of northern Italy.
