Three Italian police officers were killed early Tuesday and more than a dozen others injured when an explosion ripped through a farmhouse near the northern city of Verona, as officers tried to serve an eviction order, officials said.

The blast leveled the two-story home in the town of Castel d'Azzano, about six miles southwest of Verona. Authorities say it was triggered deliberately by residents who had been refusing to leave the property.

Officers "were struck by an intentional explosion of a gas tank," said Col. Claudio Pagano, the commander of the Verona Carabinieri police force. "It was an absolutely senseless act."

The farmhouse blew up shortly after dawn as a team of Carabinieri and other law enforcement officers entered the property, which had been illegally occupied for more than a year. According to Italy's state broadcaster RAI and Sky TG24, investigators believe the building was deliberately filled with gas, which ignited when officers opened the front door.

Firefighters said the blast could be heard for several miles and caused the structure to collapse almost instantly. Rescue crews pulled some victims from the rubble as flames engulfed the site.

Authorities arrested a brother and sister in their 60s, identified by local media as Dino and Maria Luisa Ramponi, who had been living illegally in the home. A third sibling initially fled the scene but was later taken into custody, according to Sky TG24

Prosecutors say the siblings had resisted earlier eviction attempts, including one last year when they allegedly threatened to blow up the property if police entered. Investigators discovered multiple gas canisters inside the home and are treating the case as suspected premeditated murder.

"The act appears to have been planned in advance," said Verona prosecutor Raffaele Tito. "When officers opened the door, the house exploded."

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the deaths "a tragedy that strikes the entire nation" and expressed condolences to the victims' families.

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto called it "a barbaric act against those who serve the state with courage."

The Verona prosecutor's office has opened a criminal investigation.

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