ROME (AP) – At least 25 people, including nine police officers and a fire fighter, were injured in a gas station explosion in South -East Rome early Friday, local authorities and rescue teams said.
The explosion was heard in the Italian capital after 8 am and a large cloud of deep smoke and fire was sent from many areas of the city.
Rome Mayor Roberto Guultieri said that the local police and firefighting reached the area after receiving the gas leak report. He said that two explosions occurred after his arrival.
Rome police spokesperson Ellisbetta Acardo said 16 residents were injured, two of whom were in “serious conditions” and were hospitalized at Casillino Hospital in Rome.
He said, “Nine of the injured are from the enforcement core – police and carbinier – and a fire fighter,” she said. “But fortunately they are not in a state of life.”
Fifteen firefighting teams were trying to bring the fire under control on the site.
Rome prosecutors began an investigation into the cause of the explosion, which may be related to the previous gas leakage during the unloading phase of liquided petroleum gas at the station.
A sports center located near the gas station was rapidly evacuated by the police after the first explosion, in which many children were brought for security. Police said they investigated the surrounding area, who were injured or trapped in the surrounding buildings.
Barbara Bellaldinley said she and her daughter were a little injured when she heard the first blast and left her house for investigation before the next explosion.
“As soon as we heard the second explosion, we also hit a ball of fire. I felt that we had a car exploded, the pieces of metal were flying in the air,” he said. “We felt that the skin caught fire, my daughter’s hand is still red, it was terrible.”
Other residents interviewed by local media said the explosion was so loud and violent that it hit the nearby buildings with “earthquakes”, breaking the windows and closing the shutter.
Pope Leo XIV said that he was praying for the people affected by the explosion, which was “in the heart of my state”.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she was closely after developments.
Jiada Zampano and Paolo Santalusia, Associated Press
