A violent explosion shook the Prenestino neighbourhood of Rome this morning, on via dei Gordiani, where a petrol and LPG station was the scene of an incident that left around 45 people injured, including nine police officers, a firefighter and a 118 emergency operator. Two people suffered particularly serious burns.

Vigili del Fuoco @vigilidelfuoco

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❌#Roma, #esplosione in un distributore di carburante in via dei Gordiani, zona Casilino: coinvolto uno dei #vigilidelfuoco intervenuti.
Squadre impegnate a spegnere le fiamme che stanno interessando il deposito giudiziario nella parte retrostante la stazione di rifornimento.

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What caused the explosion

According to initial reconstructions, the explosion was triggered by a lorry that struck a pipe, causing a gas leak. Firefighters were already on the scene responding to a first call when the blast occurred. The boom was heard across numerous districts of the capital, even those quite far from Prenestino, and rattled the windows of many homes.

Oltre Stretto @zancle78

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Esplosione pompa di benzina zona Centocelle
#Roma

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Five people were taken to hospital, some with minor burns and injuries from shattered glass. Following the explosion, flames spread rapidly, also engulfing a judicial impound depot and a sports centre adjacent to the service station. A dense column of black smoke is visible from kilometres away. Residents, woken by the blast, described the scene as "a bomb" and "an earthquake".

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is in contact with Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri and undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano, closely monitoring how the situation develops. Investigations are under way to establish responsibility and the exact sequence of events. The explosion "caused damage and injuries, but thanks to the interventions, without the tragic consequences it could have had," mayor Gualtieri explained. In particular, local police and police units "arrived before the explosion" and "evacuated the area," which also includes a summer camp. The damage, the mayor said, is nonetheless "enormous" and firefighters "are trying to determine the causes." "It appears that during the fuelling operations there was a gas leak. At that point the fire brigade was called,"

Giorgia Meloni ✓ @GiorgiaMeloni

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Seguo con attenzione le conseguenze dell'esplosione avvenuta questa mattina in un distributore di benzina nel quartiere Prenestino, a Roma.

Ho sentito il sindaco di Roma, Roberto Gualtieri, e resto in costante contatto con il Sottosegretario Alfredo Mantovano e le autorità

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The Civil Protection Agency is advising people in or passing through the affected area to keep windows closed if there is persistent or foul-smelling smoke, not to use air conditioning units with external air intakes, and to wash fruit and vegetables grown in the area thoroughly before consuming them. Air quality monitoring has been activated by ARPA Lazio, which will publish the results on its institutional website. The president of Legambiente Lazio, Roberto Scacchi, speaking to Rainews24, raised a safety alarm and put forward a proposal. "LPG and fuel stations are on every corner — we need to loosen our grip by choosing other means of getting around, such as electric cars or public transport, because with extreme weather events like very high temperatures, these kinds of incidents can always happen." According to Scacchi, the consequences of the material stored at the depot on the explosion will need to be assessed, including any impact on agricultural land.