Dozens of people have been injured, residents have been forced to flee and a summer camp was evacuated after an explosion at a petrol station in Rome on Friday morning.
Police have opened an investigation into the incident and seized the station, local media reports.
An enormous orange fireball shot into the sky while huge plumes of dark grey smoke billowed over buildings in the Italian capital.
By the afternoon, at least 45 people were confirmed to have been injured by the explosion, including eight police officers and one firefighter, according to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, as fire crews continue to work to put out the blaze.
Two people were seriously injured, including the driver of a gas tanker involved in the incident, the newspaper reported.
The police union told the newspaper that one police officer was in a “red code” for the burns he sustained.
Several other people were being treated for trauma injuries including fractures, after falling as a result of the explosion.
Rome’s police commissioner Roberto Massucci said the explosion was caused by an accident during the unloading of LPG at the station.
Some residents told Corriere that “pieces of glass and iron were flying” in the explosion, which rocked nearby buildings.
A fire broke out at first, followed by two explosions in quick succession around 8.18am local time, according to local media. The second blast was the biggest.
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has spoken to the mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri about the incident, Corriere reports. Mr Gualtieri said Italy’s president Sergio Mattarella also spoke with him.
“I updated him on the situation and he asked me to convey his thanks to all the operators and the police who intervened promptly, avoiding worse consequences,” Mr Gualtieri said of his conversation with the president.
The mayor, who went to the scene of the explosion, thanked emergency services for their rapid response.
He said that response “allowed the immediate evacuation of all those present in surrounding structures, including a summer camp for children”.
The explosion occurred near via de Gordiani 32 in the district of Prenestino, in Rome’s southeast.
There is a nursery and sports club nearby, as well as several schools.
Video shows debris scattered across a sports field, while the fence to the area has been buckled by the force of the blast.
Italy’s fire service said 10 crews were on the scene working to douse the flames.
