Latest news with #Prenestino
LBCI
15 hours ago
- LBCI
Huge explosion at Rome petrol station injures 45 people
A huge explosion at a petrol station in an eastern district of Rome on Friday injured at least 45 people, including 12 police officers and six firefighters, Italian authorities said. The blast at the distributor of petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the working class Prenestino neighborhood was heard across the capital just after 8 am (0600 GMT). The people hit by the explosion are being treated in local hospitals, Italian news agencies reported, with two in a critical condition due to extensive burns and needing ventilation support. Reuters
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Yahoo
Blast injures 45 at petrol station in Rome
Forty-five people were injured in a massive explosion at a petrol station in the Italian capital Rome on Friday. Two of the people are in critical condition and a further four were seriously injured and are receiving hospital treatment, according to the emergency services. ANSA news agency reported around 45 people were injured, including citizens and emergency services personnel. Among them were 11 police officers, one member of Italy's Carabinieri police force, six firefighters, and three paramedics, who were treated by emergency services and helpers. The incident occurred in the Prenestino district, not far from Termini central station, shortly after 8am local time, the fire brigade said initially. Emergency services were already on site responding to reports of a gas leak and had begun evacuation measures. Initial findings suggest the explosion was caused by liquid gas that leaked out and caught fire as it was being transferred to a tanker truck at a gas depot at a petrol station, which burned down. It looked like a war zone, Lieutenant Colonel Antonino Giorgio of the Carabinieri told journalists. Giorgio was injured when he was hit by the heat wave. "I only regret that we couldn't save more people," he said. Hours later, some areas around Via dei Gordiani still smelled of smoke and the sound of cicadas was loud in the otherwise quiet street. The windows of some houses were broken and there were shards of glass lying on the ground. Firefighters cordoned off the area of the explosion. "My mother said it was like a bomb," Simona Pantaleo told dpa. Shortly after the explosion, she drove to her 85-year-old mother's house to make sure she was safe, like many others in the densely populated neighbourhood. About five hours later, they were still waiting for relatives who were being examined by emergency services. The operation was difficult because there was an ambulance depot next to the petrol station where oxygen cylinders were stored, said Carabinieri Major Andrea Quattrocchi. Officers are checking the suspicion that the leak of liquid gas could have been caused by the tanker hitting a conductive pipe, he said. The exact circumstances of the explosion are still under investigation. A sports centre with a tennis court was damaged next to the petrol station, and a nearby summer camp with eight children was evacuated in the morning. According to dpa reporters, people heard and felt the explosion in several parts of the city. Surrounding buildings were damaged. The mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, appealed to the population on social media to leave the affected area as a precaution. The blast came amid a lengthy heatwave in the Italian capital, with temperatures above 38C. Medical tents were set up at the scene, and the city of Rome called on people to keep their windows closed and not to use external air conditioning. Politicians expressed sympathy and support, as did Pope Leo XIV.
Daily Mail
19 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Hellish explosion in Rome leaves 40 injured including 11 police officers after 'truck hit pipeline at petrol station'
A hellish explosion at a petrol station in Rome this morning has left at least 40 people injured including 11 police officers and a firefighter. The blast was heard across the Italian capital shortly after 8am on Friday and sent up a huge cloud of dark smoke and fire that was visible from several areas of the city. Shocking footage emerged following the incident, showing fires raging and a thick plume of smoke billowing from the site of the blast - a petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) station at 34 Via dei Gordiani in the Italian capital's eastern Prenestino district. Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said that local police and firefighters rushed to the area after receiving a report of a gas leak. Two explosions followed after they arrived, he added. 'Local police immediately evacuated a sports centre nearby, while other officers evacuated buildings on the other side of the gas station, avoiding a much more serious tragedy,' Mr Gualtieri said. Elisabetta Accardo, Rome's police spokeswoman, said that 24 residents were injured, including two who were in 'severe conditions' at Rome's Casilino hospital. Eleven of the injured are from law enforcement bodies - police and carabinieri - and one is a firefighter but they are not in life-threatening conditions. No deaths have been reported. Clips of the inferno shared to social media by horrified locals showed blackened tarmac littered with debris at the scene, while a webcam feed managed to capture the mushroom-cloud-like explosion rising over the city. Emergency services were already at the scene before the blast. They had been called minutes earlier amid reports that a truck hit a petrol pump at the service station and caused a fire, Italian news agencies reported. Elisabetta Accardo, a spokesperson for the Roman police, explained that fire triggered a small explosion which in turn set off a devastating chain reaction. 'There were a few chain explosions after the first one,' Accardo told Italian state broadcaster RAI. The second explosion was significantly larger and destroyed the entire facility. Rome prosecutors have begun an investigation into the cause of the explosion, which could be related to a previous gas leak during the unloading phase of liquified petroleum gas at the station. The nearby Villa de Sanctis sports centre was evacuated swiftly by police following the first explosion, with several children brought to safety. Fabio Balzani, the President of Villa De Sanctis sports centre, told La Stampa that the building and facilities were damaged in the blast. He also said that kids attending a summer camp were evacuated before the explosion amid reports of a fire, averting disaster. 'At the first hint of smoke around 7:30 we evacuated the children, there were eight of them. The parents arrived, the kids are all fine,' he said. 'If it had happened an hour later, it would have been a massacre: there would have been 60 children from the summer camp, us in charge, and 120 booked in the swimming pool. The sports center is damaged, it looks like a battlefield.' Police said they checked the surrounding area for people who were injured or trapped in nearby buildings. Barbara Belardinelli said that she and her daughter were slightly injured when they heard the first explosion and left their home to investigate before the next explosion struck them. 'As soon as we heard the second explosion, we were also hit by a ball of fire. I thought that a car near us exploded, metal fragments were flying in the air,' she said. 'We felt the fire on the skin, the arm of my daughter is still red, it was horrible.' Other residents said the explosion was so loud and violent it struck nearby buildings 'like an earthquake', breaking windows and ripping off shutters. One eyewitness told Italian outlet La Repubblica that it looked as though a bomb had gone off. 'I was running, as the crow flies I was less than a hundred meters from the gas pump,' Massimo Bartoletti said. 'I saw the first explosion with the classic fireball. Shortly after came the second one which was hellish. A fiery mushroom cloud formed in the sky. It shook the whole area. It looked like hell, everything was flying in the sky.' Parts of a fuel tanker were reportedly blown hundreds of metres away from the station, such was the force of the blast. Several hospitals in Rome, including San Giovanni, Sandro Pertini and Sant'Eugenio, were all alerted about possible incoming trauma victims. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni commented on social media: 'I am closely following the consequences of the explosion that occurred this morning at a gas station in the Prenestino neighbourhood of Rome. 'I have spoken to the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, and I remain in constant contact with Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano and the competent authorities to monitor the evolution of 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. Pope Leo XIV said he was praying for those affected by the explosion, which happened 'in the heart of my Diocese.' Other residents told Italian news agency ANSA about the ordeal. 'We were woken up by a bang, it sounded like a bomb, an attack,' a woman named Paola who lives in an apartment overlooking the station said. 'We didn't understand what it was, all the windows shook. It could have been a bomb, an earthquake, we didn't understand,' said Francesco, a tenant of a building next door. 'Then from the smoke we understood it was an explosion.' 'My mother has a cut on her leg, the windows are shattered,' another resident named Claudia said. Several residents said they saw people lying in the street who had been injured by shards of glass or debris. There is no suspicion of crime or foul play at present.
Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Daily Mail
'It looked like hell': Dozens injured in huge explosion in Rome 'after truck hit pipeline at petrol station'
A huge explosion at a petrol station in Rome this morning has left at least 30 people injured, some with severe burns, and caused residents to flee their homes. Shocking footage showed fires raging and a thick cloud of smoke emanating from the site of the blast - a petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) station at 34 Via dei Gordiani in the Italian capital's eastern Prenestino district. The punishing explosion, which erupted at 8.18am this morning according to Italian media, levelled the entire lot. Clips shared to social media by horrified locals showed blackened tarmac littered with debris at the scene, while a webcam feed managed to capture the mushroom-cloud-like explosion rising over the city. Emergency services were already at the scene before the blast. They had been called minutes earlier amid reports that a truck hit a petrol pump at the service station and caused a fire, Italian news agencies reported. Elisabetta Accardo, a spokesperson for the Roman police, explained that fire triggered a small explosion which in turn set off a devastating chain reaction. 'There were a few chain explosions after the first one,' Accardo told Italian state broadcaster RAI. The second explosion was significantly larger and destroyed the entire facility. At least nine police and fire service workers were hurt, five of which were rushed to hospital with significant burns and injuries from broken glass, though no one has yet been reported killed. One eyewitness told Italian outlet La Repubblica that it looked as though a bomb had gone off. 'I was running, as the crow flies I was less than a hundred meters from the gas pump,' Massimo Bartoletti said. 'I saw the first explosion with the classic fireball. Shortly after came the second one which was hellish. A fiery mushroom cloud formed in the sky. It shook the whole area. It looked like hell, everything was flying in the sky.' Parts of a fuel tanker were reportedly blown hundreds of metres away from the station, such was the force of the blast. 'We are working on a tank explosion ... the fire is still ongoing,' the fire department said in a statement, adding one of their officers had been hospitalised. Fire department spokesperson Luca Cari later confirmed that one firefighter was injured but 'not seriously.' Ten teams were at work on the site, he added. A damaged ambulance caught in the blast was seen sitting at the scene, with its bonnet and front doors charred. The explosion caused structural damage to several nearby buildings, shattering windows, and started a fire that spread to a judicial building located behind the petrol station. Rome's public transport agency Atac said it closed a nearby metro station following instructions from police, who were performing checks at a nearby nursery and the Villa de Sanctis sports centre to ensure no one there was hurt. The President of Villa De Sanctis sports centre, Fabio Balzani, told La Stampa that the building and facilities were damaged in the blast. He also said that kids attending a summer camp were evacuated before the explosion amid reports of a fire, averting disaster. 'At the first hint of smoke around 7:30 we evacuated the children, there were eight of them. The parents arrived, the kids are all fine,' he said. 'If it had happened an hour later, it would have been a massacre: there would have been 60 children from the summer camp, us in charge, and 120 booked in the swimming pool. The sports center is damaged, it looks like a battlefield.' Several hospitals in Rome, including San Giovanni, Sandro Pertini and Sant'Eugenio, were all alerted about possible incoming trauma victims. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni commented on social media: 'I am closely following the consequences of the explosion that occurred this morning at a gas station in the Prenestino neighbourhood of Rome. 'I have spoken to the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, and I remain in constant contact with Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano and the competent authorities to monitor the evolution of 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. Pope Leo XIV said he was praying for those affected by the explosion, which happened 'in the heart of my Diocese.' Residents told Italian news agency ANSA about the ordeal. 'We were woken up by a bang, it sounded like a bomb, an attack,' a woman named Paola who lives in an apartment overlooking the station said. 'We didn't understand what it was, all the windows shook. It could have been a bomb, an earthquake, we didn't understand,' said Francesco, a tenant of a building next door. 'Then from the smoke we understood it was an explosion.' 'My mother has a cut on her leg, the windows are shattered,' another resident named Claudia said. Several residents said they saw people lying in the street who had been injured by shards of glass or debris. Rome Public Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation into the incident as firefighters continue their work at the scene. There is no suspicion of crime or foul play at present.
Asharq Al-Awsat
21 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Huge Explosion at Rome Petrol Station Injures 45
A huge explosion at a petrol station in an eastern district of Rome on Friday injured at least 45 people, including 12 police officers and six firefighters, Italian authorities said. The blast at the distributor of petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the working class Prenestino neighborhood was heard across the capital just after 8 am (0600 GMT). The people hit by the explosion are being treated in local hospitals, Italian news agencies reported, with two in a critical condition due to extensive burns and needing ventilation support. Website Roma Today published a photograph of a huge ball of flame and smoke rising high into the sky. Separate images released by the fire department showed the petrol station almost completely gutted. "I pray for the people involved in the explosion of a gas station (...) in the heart of my Diocese. I continue to follow the developments of this tragic incident with concern," Pope Leo XIV wrote on X. Firefighters and ambulance workers were caught up in the blast as they had been called to the scene earlier, after a truck hit a pipeline at the petrol station, Reuters quoted Italian media as saying. Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, speaking from the scene, told reporters an incident during fuel-tank refilling operations was suspected, causing a gas leak, followed by a fire and the explosion. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni thanked the police, firefighters and other emergency services for helping to ensure "that this tragic event didn't have even more serious consequences." The station had the Eni brand but was not owned by the Italian energy group, the company said in a statement A sports center that hosts a youth summer camp opposite the station was evacuated before the blast, a representative said in a Facebook video, adding that the five children in its care were safe and back with their families.
