Explosion at Gas Station Booms Across Rome

Dozens of people were injured, including 10 police officers and a firefighter, officials said. The cause of the blast was not immediately clear.

An explosion rocked a gas station in Rome on Friday, injuring at least 29 people, including 10 police officers and a firefighter, officials said. Two injured civilians were in critical condition, a police spokeswoman said.

The blast from the explosion, which happened around 8:15 Friday morning, was so loud that it was heard across the city.

Firefighters had been called to the station, which sells liquefied petroleum gas, earlier that morning because of a possible leak and were on the scene when the explosion happened, said Luca Cari, a spokesman for the Italian fire service. The cause was not yet known, Mr. Cari said.

“We only know that there was an explosion,” Mr. Cari said.

City officials said the explosion took place while “a refueling operation was underway,” according to a statement on the city’s website.

Firefighters managed to douse a blaze caused by the blast that had raged in a lot behind the station, Mr. Cari added.

Footage began circulating on Friday morning showing the effect of the blast. One video featured chunks of plaster that had landed hundreds of yards away. In another, a resident of a neighboring building said that windows had exploded.

Mr. Cari said firefighters were trying to determine whether there had been any structural damage to the surrounding buildings. Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said that several apartment buildings near the station had been evacuated.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy said she was monitoring the situation.

The explosion occurred about 15 minutes before Roberto De Carolis opened his hairdressing supply store, which is close to the gas station. The police blocked him from going to the store, but he said he saw on surveillance video that multiple windows had been shattered.

“I can’t imagine what it is like inside,” he said. “Thank God it happened before” the store opened, he added.

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