Three people have been injured and dozens evacuated after an explosion on a residential street in Rome.
The blast on Sunday afternoon tore through three apartment buildings in Piana del Sole on the outskirts of the Italian capital.
The explosion is believed to have been caused by the detonation of gas cylinders buried in a property’s rear garden, the owners of which were among those taken to the nearby Sant’Eugenio hospital.
Married couple Michele De Bari, 84, and Chiara De Bari, 86, both received 20 per cent burns and are in critical condition.
A 24-year-old man was also taken to hospital after being pulled from the rubble.
Five apartment buildings in total were affected, with 70 people being instructed to evacuate by emergency services.
Debris was strewn up to 300 metres away, according to Corriere della Sera.
A resident who was there at the time of the explosion told the Italian newspaper: “We heard a deafening bang coming from the house across from ours: debris struck everything – the large window, my son’s car, the gate – everything was destroyed.”
They added: “Fortunately, my wife, the dog, and I are fine.”
Mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri said: “I want to extend my thoughts to the injured, wishing them a speedy recovery, and I want to thank the firefighters, local police, Civil Protection, and healthcare workers, as well as the City Council and the president, who are all here to offer support and assistance to those in need. We won’t leave them alone.”
Mr Gaultieri said the explosion occurred in a building which is now “completely destroyed”.
“Firefighters will determine the cause. It appears to be a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinder in one of the houses,” he added.
“The power of the explosion is quite impressive. The surrounding buildings are damaged, some will be uninhabitable. We need to figure out how many people will need to be moved.”
Intense heat and leaky pressure release valves are frequent causes of LPG tank explosions.
Such inadvertent detonations are not uncommon, with a similarly blast killing at least four in Chile last month and another claiming the lives of 20 people in India in 2012.
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