Rome gas station blast that left at least 40 injured could have been
worse, says mayor
[July 05, 2025]
By GIADA ZAMPANO and PAOLO SANTALUCIA
ROME (AP) — A gas station explosion early Friday in southeastern Rome
injured at least 40 people, including 11 police officers and one
firefighter, but immediate rescue intervention avoided a much more
tragic outcome, local authorities and rescuers said.
The explosion was heard across the Italian capital shortly after 8 a.m.
and sent up a huge cloud of dark smoke and fire that was visible from
several areas of the city.
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 center nearby, while other
officers evacuated buildings on the other side of the gas station,
avoiding a much more serious tragedy," Gualtieri said.
Police said that at least 24 residents were injured, including two who
were in “severe conditions,” and hospitalized at Rome's Casilino
hospital.
Eleven of the injured are from law enforcement corps — police and
carabinieri — and one is a firefighter, they said, adding they are not
in life-threatening conditions.

Fifteen firefighting teams were at the site trying to bring the fire
under control.
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 sports center near the gas station was evacuated swiftly by police
following the first explosion, with several children brought to safety
just in time to avoid the second.
Fabio Balzani, president of the sports center, noted that the timing of
the first explosion was key to avert a carnage, as just half an hour
later dozens of children would have arrived at the summer camp.
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Firefighters monitor the area where a gas station exploded on the
outskirts of Rome, Friday, July 4, 2025. (Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse
via AP)

“If it had happened, as I have already told everyone, half an hour
later, it would have been a catastrophe," he said.
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.
Pope Leo XIV said that he was praying for those affected by the
explosion, which happened “in the heart of my Diocese.”
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she was closely following the
developments.
“Thanks to the rapidity and expertise shown in the first
intervention to secure and close the affected area, and the speed of
the rescue, it was possible to prevent this tragic event from having
even more serious consequences,” Meloni said.
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