Nearly 30 people were hurt, including two seriously, after a powerful explosion at a petrol station in a suburb of Rome on Friday morning, shaking windows across the city.
The blast occurred around 8:20am (0620 GMT) following a fire triggered by a gas leak during refuelling, according to Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, who confirmed the number of casualties.
Gualtieri visited the scene in the Prenestino neighbourhood, where the petrol and liquefied natural gas (LNG) station, alongside an adjacent sports centre, was left severely damaged and smouldering.
The explosion produced a fireball and dense black smoke visible for miles and was audible across Rome, prompting fears among residents that a bomb had detonated.
“The explosion was incredibly strong. I even felt my skin burning,” said Michele Secu, 23, who worked at the now-destroyed sports centre.
Emergency services had been alerted to the gas leak prior to the blast and evacuated the surrounding area, which included a children’s summer camp.
Police reported that among the injured were ten officers and one firefighter, alongside 16 civilians, with two in serious but stable condition.
Fabio Balzani, head of the sports centre, said the timing was critical. Had the fire occurred slightly later, with 60 children expected at the camp and 120 people booked for the pool, the consequences could have been catastrophic.
“It would have been a massacre,” he told AFP.
Andrea Quattrocchi, chief of the local Carabinieri, said his team’s prompt action saved lives, including extracting a person from a burning vehicle. That individual remains in serious but stable condition in hospital.
Witnesses reported an ambulance caught fire and exploded following the blaze.
Ennio Aquilino, Lazio fire department’s regional director, attributed the blast to a “BLEVE” — a boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion — involving the liquefied natural gas.
A BLEVE occurs when a pressurised liquid rapidly vaporises due to vessel rupture, producing an effect akin to a bomb blast, Aquilino explained.
He said firefighters were initially called about the gas leak but had no opportunity to prevent the explosion, only to evacuate the area.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she was monitoring the situation closely and expressed her support for the injured.
