Huge explosion at Rome petrol station injures at least 27 people

At least 27 people, including 10 police officers and a firefighter, were injured on Friday in a huge explosion at a petrol station in an eastern district of Rome, Italian authorities said.

The blast at the distributor of petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the working class Prenestino neighbourhood was heard across the capital just after 8:00 am (0600 GMT).

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.

Apart from the first responders, 16 civilians were injured, including the manager of the fuel distributor, a police spokeswoman said in a video, saying the toll was not final, and adding that the causes of the incident would be investigated.

An ambulance service spokesperson put the provisional number of injured at 28.

"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.

Health authorities said eight people had been hospitalised, including two with serious burns and needing ventilation support, and a third person with burns was in serious but not critical condition.

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, local reports said.

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.

The station had the Eni brand but was not owned by the Italian energy group, the company said in a statement.

Firefighters wrote on X that the fire was still burning but was under control. Flames spread to a nearby depot, while the shockwave from the explosion damaged nearby buildings, breaking windows.

A sports centre 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.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was following the situation, her office said in a statement.