01-04-2025
Scottish tourist dies after Rome holiday home explosion
Grant Paterson, 54, from East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, was on a break in Rome when his holiday home in Rome's Monteverde district collapsed after an explosion on Sunday, March 23rd.
Following the blast, the man was said to have suffered major leg injuries and burns covering 75 percent of his body.
Paterson died in hospital on Tuesday morning, Il Corriere di Roma reported.
A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office said that they were 'supporting the family of a British man who died in Italy' and were in touch with local authorities, according to British news reports.
Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said in a statement that the news of Paterson's death "saddens all of Rome".
'I want to express my personal condolences and those of the entire city to his loved ones and fellow citizens. I sincerely hope that the ongoing investigation will swiftly shed light on this terrible accident," he added.
The Rome Public Prosecutor's Office launched an official investigation into the explosion last week.
The probe, which is led by Deputy Prosecutor Giovanni Conzo, is linked to potential charges of involuntary personal injury (lesioni colpose) and involuntary disaster (disastro colposo), Italian media reports said.
The explosion, which occurred at around 9am on March 23rd, 'felt like a bomb', according to reports from local residents.
The blast damaged part of the walls of Villa Pamphili – a 17th-century villa boasting the largest landscaped public park in Rome – as well as several cars parked in front of the building.
Following the explosion, Italian writer and journalist Roberto Saviano, famous for his international mafia bestseller Gomorrah, said on social media he used to live in the building.
