Three police officers have died and 15 people have been injured, including soldiers from this body and police officers, when a country house collapsed this morning after an explosion caused by the gas with which the people who were going to be evicted in the town of Caste D’Azzanoin the province of Verona, in northeastern Italy.
According to the first investigations, the law enforcement forces were carrying out the eviction of the house where three brothers lived, when upon opening the door the explosion occurred and the two-story building completely collapsed.
The two inhabitants of the house, a man and a 60-year-old woman, were arrested after being pulled from the rubble.while the third brother was arrested a few hours later in a field he owned and did not resist.
The three brothers are Franco, Dino and Maria Luisa Ramponi, farmers and ranchers with financial and mortgage problems, according to reports Efe. The woman and one of the brothers suffered burns and were taken to the hospital for medical attention.
11 police officers and 4 police officers were also slightly injured and are hospitalized..
The deceased are Marco Piffari, Davide Bernardello and Valerio Daprà , “who sacrificed their lives, fulfilling their duty to the end in the service of the country,” confirmed the Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto.
It was not the first time that, to avoid an eviction, the occupants of this house filled the rooms with gas and threatened to explode the house.
“Three brothers lived in this country house. Apparently, they had stored gas cylinders for a while and saturated the environment to threaten to blow up everything. It happened last night around 3:15 a.m.,” the deputy mayor of Castel d’Azzano, Antonello Panuccio, told the television channel. Rainews.
The eviction had been planned for days after several attempts to convince the three brothers to leave the propertybut they had repeatedly threatened to blow everything up and it had been postponed several times until this morning.
For this reason, Carabineros from the Special Forces, police officers specialized in anti-terrorist operations and firefighters were deployed to the scene due to the danger of the intervention.
During the subsequent search, five cylinders that had been placed in various rooms of the house and several Molotov cocktails were found.
“It is with deep regret that I learn of the tragic death of three police officers and others wounded (…) I personally expressed my condolences to the General Commander of the Carabineros through a telephone callextending them to all agents of the Corps. My thoughts also go to all the police forces and firefighters, who work every day with dedication and courage at the service of the State,” the prime minister wrote in a message. Giorgia Meloni.