ROME: A huge explosion at a petrol station in a Rome suburb on Friday (Jul 4) injured around 30 people, the vast majority of them lightly, and rattled windows across the Italian capital.
Visiting the scene, Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said the injured were nine law enforcement officers and around 20 other people, one of them in a serious condition.
Neighbouring buildings were evacuated following the blast at around 8.20am (2.20pm, Singapore time), which Gualtieri said caused “enormous damage”, including to a sports hall which was hosting a children’s summer camp.
The children were taken to safety beforehand and were unharmed.
Gualtieri said there had been a gas leak during a refuelling operation and an initial fire. Emergency services were on the scene and evacuations were already underway when the blast occurred.
“The explosion was really powerful. I felt my skin burning,” Michele Seco, a 23-year-old who worked at the sports centre, told AFP.
Mobile phone footage shared online showed a huge fireball shooting into the sky, followed by black smoke that swept across the Prenestino neighbourhood of eastern Rome.
The sound was heard across the Eternal City, with windows shaking even across town, according to AFP reporters.
Balzani Fabio, head of the sports centre, said the first fire occurred at around 7.30am or 7.40am, adding that if it had happened later it could have had disastrous results.
“If it had happened at 8.30am or later it would have been a massacre, a catastrophe,” he told AFP.
He said that around 60 children had been expected for a summer camp in the centre and around 120 were booked to use the swimming pool that morning.
He said the centre had been destroyed.
Ten teams of firefighters were sent to the petrol station, which provided both vehicle fuel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
The fire service posted on social media a video of blackened and smoking structures, punctuated with flames.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she was following the situation.
“I express my closeness to all those who are injured – including law enforcement officers, firefighters and health workers – and I extend my heartfelt thanks to those involved in the rescue and safety operations,” she wrote on X.
