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Photo by the Italian Fire Services
22 Jan 2025

Gas leak in Italy destroyed three story building and injured 14

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On the evening of January 21, 2025, at approximately 7:00 PM local time, a significant explosion occurred in the San Giovanni Galermo district of Catania, Sicily, leading to the collapse of a three-story building. 

Video released by the Vigili del Fuoco shows fire crews at the scene of the explosion putting water in fires and looking for potentially missing residents.

 (see the video of the incident below in this post) YouTube

Italian firefighters wrote in a Whatsapp group on Wednesday that a "massive leak from natural gas networks in a road" had occurred. 

Firefighters and emergency services promptly responded to the scene, conducting search and rescue operations to locate any potential victims trapped under the debris.  

The incident resulted in injuries to fourteen individuals, six of whom required hospitalization.

Initially, concerns were raised about a missing individual; however, it was later confirmed that the person was not at home during the explosion. 

On Wednesday morning, firefighters said in a media report no missing people had been found.

In response to the incident, Catania's Chief Prosecutor, Francesco Curcio, announced the initiation of an investigation into the explosion, focusing on possible charges of culpable disaster. Prosecutors Fabio Scavone and Emanuele Vadalà have been assigned to lead the inquiry. 

The local community has been deeply affected by the event, with authorities urging residents to adhere to safety protocols and cooperate with ongoing investigations to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

 

Please refer to these sources for more information:

ANSA.it 

Yahoo News