Huge explosion at Rome petrol station injures at least 27 people
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Shocking moment petrol station EXPLODES in huge fireball in Rome leaving at least 45 people injured
At least 45 people have been injured in the blast in the Prenestino area of Rome. The blast was caused by a truck hitting a pipeline at the service station. Flames spread to a nearby depot, while the shockwave from the explosion damaged nearby buildings, breaking windows. The station had the Eni brand but was not owned by the Italian energy group, the company said in a statement. Pope Leo XIV wrote on X: “I pray for the people involved in the explosion of a gas station (…) in the heart of my Diocese” A sports centre that hosts a youth summer camp opposite the station was evacuated before the blast, adding that the five children in its care were safe and back with their families. Italian interior minsiter Matteo Piantedosi commended those who “intervened promptly” despite the terrifying conditions. Black smoke was seen billowing over the capital as flames spread over the gas station and parked cars. The fire was still burning but was under control.
HORROR BLAST Shocking moment petrol station EXPLODES in huge fireball in Rome leaving at least 45 people injured
THIS is the terrifying moment a petrol station explodes in a huge fireball in Rome leaving at least 45 people injured.
Glass was shattered and three people suffered severe burns after the shocking blast in the capital’s eastern neighborhood, the Prenestino area.
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10 A huge cloud of smoke rises after a gas station exploded on the outskirts of Rome, Italy Credit: Reuters
10 At least 45 people were injured following the blast Credit: Cover Images
10 Firefighters are still tackling the blaze Credit: Reuters
10 Debris is seen strewn across the ground Credit: Cover Images
A huge bang was heard in areas surrounding the distributor of petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) on Via dei Gordiani.
Billowing clouds of black smoke filling the air are pictured as flames spread over the gas station and parked cars.
Shocking footage of the collapsed building charred by the fire shows rubble and glass strewn across the ground.
Emergency services – including seven ambulances, fire engines, and police forces – were called to the scene at around 8am today to reports of a truck hitting a pipeline at the service station.
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Just moments later, the building exploded with a force comparable to a “bomb” going off, according to Ennio Aquilino, regional director of the Lazio fire brigade.
One local told Reuters: “I heard it as I was leaving the house, there was a very loud bang, the whole house shook and I was afraid the windows might shatter given how strong it was.”
Some 45 people have been injured, including the manager of the fuel distributor.
“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.
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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.
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.
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Firefighters wrote on X that the fire was still burning but was under control.
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Flames spread to a nearby depot, while the shockwave from the explosion damaged nearby buildings, breaking windows.
One man was rescued from his car and is now being treated in hospital for serious injuries.
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.
President of the Villa De Sanctis sports club, Fabio Balzani, told local news that there would have been a “massacre” had they not taking the children out of the building at “the first hint of smoke”.
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He added that the sports centre is now badly “damaged” and resembles a “battlefield”.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was following the situation, her office said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Italian interior minsiter Matteo Piantedosi commended those who “intervened promptly” despite the terrifying conditions.
In a statement, he said: “I am in constant contact with the police chief and the head of the fire department to closely follow the developments related to the explosion that occurred this morning in Rome.
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“I am monitoring with particular attention the conditions of the injured, especially those of the police officers and firefighters who intervened promptly to provide first aid.
“Their readiness, courage and sense of duty demonstrated in dealing with the emergency represent an extraordinary example of dedication to public service, which deserves respect and gratitude from everyone.
“The necessary checks are now underway for the remediation of the area.”
10 Nearby buildings have also reportedly been damaged by the explosion Credit: Cover Images
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10 A burnt ambulance is seen next to the gas station Credit: Reuters
10 Emergency services personnel work at the scene Credit: Reuters
10 Thick black smoke is seen engulfing the sky Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
10 Billowing clouds of black smoke filling the air were seen
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Moment massive explosion erupts at gas station in Rome | Video
At least 27 people were injured in an explosion at a gas station in Rome on Friday. Among the wounded were 10 police officers and a firefighter. The blast occurred at a distributor of petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) Local media reported that the explosion was so loud and violent that it struck nearby buildings ‘like an earthquake’
Video of the explosion has been circulated widely across social media. In the footage, a massive ball of fire can be seen as the fire erupts, engulfing the whole gas station. Smoke can be seen rising as passersby run away from the blast site, with panic spreading across the area.
Euro News reported that initial information from the Rome fire brigade suggested that the explosion was caused due to a technical fault during fuel-tank refuelling. Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said that local authorities were alerted to a gas leak, after which police and firefighters rushed to the site. Two explosions happened after they arrived.
Local media reported that Firefighters and ambulance workers were caught up in the blast. They were called after a truck hit a pipeline at the petrol station.
“There were a few chain explosions after the first one,” Roman police spokesperson Elisabetta Accardo told Italian state broadcaster RAI.”All the policemen injured suffered burns, but they are not in danger of life.” The cause of the incident is being investigated.
Local media reported, citing residents, that the explosion was so loud and violent that it struck nearby buildings “like an earthquake”. The shockwave from the explosion resulted in damage to nearby buildings and shattered windows.
Huge explosion at Rome petrol station injures at least 27 people
At least 27 people, including 10 police officers and a firefighter, were injured in a huge explosion at a petrol station in Rome. 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 am (0600 GMT) The station had the Eni (ENI.MI) brand but was not owned by the Italian energy group, the company said in a statement. Pope Leo XIV wrote on X: ‘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’
Item 1 of 4 A huge cloud of smoke rises after a gas station exploded on the outskirts of Rome, Italy, July 4, 2025. REUTERS/Matteo Minnella TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Summary
Companies Three people hospitalised with serious burn injuries
Large blast heard across the capital just after 0600 GMT
Pope Leo prays for victims of ‘tragic incident’
Children in nearby youth centre all safe
ROME, July 4 (Reuters) – 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 am (0600 GMT).
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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 (ENI.MI) , opens new tab 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.
Additional reporting by Paolo Chiriatti in Rome and Francesca Landini in Milan; Editing by Giulia Segreti, Kate Mayberry and Kim Coghill
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613 killed at Gaza aid distribution sites, near humanitarian covoys, says UN
The U.N. human rights office said on Friday it had recorded at least 613 killings in Gaza. The killings occurred at aid points run by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Of the 613 people killed, 509 were killed near the GHF distribution points, the OHCHR said. The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May and has repeatedly denied that incidents had occurred at its sites.. Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19. There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies after a nearly two-year-old military campaign by Israel against Hamas militants in Gaza that has reduced much of the enclave to rubble.
GENEVA, July 4 (Reuters) – The U.N. human rights office said on Friday it had recorded at least 613 killings both at aid points run by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and near humanitarian convoys run by other relief groups including the U.N.
The GHF uses private U.S. security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing a U.N.-led system that Israel says had let militants divert aid. The United Nations has called the plan “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality rules.
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“We have recorded 613 killings, both at GHF points and near humanitarian convoys – this is a figure as of June 27. Since then … there have been further incidents,” Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May and has repeatedly denied that incidents had occurred at its sites.
Of the 613 people killed, 509 were killed near the GHF distribution points, the OHCHR said.
The OHCHR said its figure is based on a range of sources such as information from hospitals, cemeteries, families, Palestinian health authorities, NGOs, and its partners on the ground. It said it is verifying further reports and cannot yet give a breakdown of where they were killed.
The GHF previously told Reuters it has delivered more than 52 million meals to hungry Palestinians in five weeks, and said other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted.” Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19.
The U.N. office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told Reuters that there have been some instances of violent looting and attacks on truck drivers, which it described as unacceptable.
“Israel, as the occupying power, bears responsibility with regards to public order and safety in Gaza. That should include letting in far more essential supplies, through multiple crossings and routes, to meet humanitarian needs,” OCHA spokesperson Eri Kaneko said in a statement to Reuters.
COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, was not immediately available for comment.
The Israeli military acknowledged on Monday that Palestinian civilians have been harmed at aid distribution centres in Gaza, saying that Israeli forces had been issued new instructions following what it called “lessons learned”.
Israel has repeatedly said its forces operate near the centres in order to prevent the aid from falling into the hands of Palestinian Hamas militants.
There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies after a nearly two-year-old military campaign by Israel against Hamas militants in Gaza that has reduced much of the enclave to rubble and displaced most of its two million inhabitants.
Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin, Editing by Friederike Heine, William Maclean
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WHO says Gaza’s Nasser hospital ‘one massive trauma ward’
UN says 613 killed at Gaza aid distribution sites, near convoys. US- and Israeli back Gaza Humanitarian Foundation rejects those figures. WHO describes young boys with bullet wounds to head, chest and knees. Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19. The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7, killing 20,200 people back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. The U.N. office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that there have been some instances of violent looting and attacks on aid truck drivers, which it described as unacceptable. The GHF dismissed these numbers as coming “directly from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry” and were being used to “falsely smear” its effort, the U.S.- and Israeli-backed GHF said on Friday. It has previously said it has delivered more than 60 million meals to hungry Palestinians in five weeks “safely and without interference”, while other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted”
Item 1 of 2 A Palestinian, wounded by Israeli fire while seeking aid on Friday, according to medics, receives treatment at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, July 4 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
Summary UN says 613 killed at Gaza aid distribution sites, near convoys
US- and Israeli back Gaza Humanitarian Foundation rejects those figures
WHO describes young boys with bullet wounds to head, chest
Israel lifted 11-week aid blockade on Gaza in May
GENEVA, July 4 (Reuters) – Nasser hospital in Gaza is operating as “one massive trauma ward” due to an influx of patients wounded at non-United Nations food distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
The U.S.- and Israeli-backed GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of deliveries that the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It has repeatedly denied that incidents involving people killed or wounded at its sites have occurred.
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The GHF told Reuters on Friday that “the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to U.N. convoys,” and said the U.N. and humanitarian groups should work “collaboratively” with the GHF to “maximise the amount of aid being securely delivered into Gaza”. The U.N. in Geneva was immediately available for comment.
Referring to medical staff at the Nasser hospital, Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the West Bank and Gaza, told reporters in Geneva: “They’ve seen already for weeks, daily injuries … (the) majority coming from the so-called safe non-UN food distribution sites. The hospital is now operating as one massive trauma ward.”
Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19.
The United Nations human rights office said on Friday that it had recorded at least 613 killings both at aid points run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and near humanitarian convoys.
“We have recorded 613 killings, both at GHF points and near humanitarian convoys – this is a figure as of June 27. Since then … there have been further incidents,” Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva.
The OHCHR said 509 of the 613 were killed near GHF distribution points. The GHF dismissed these numbers as coming “directly from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry” and were being used to “falsely smear” its effort.
The GHF has previously said it has delivered more than 60 million meals to hungry Palestinians in five weeks “safely and without interference”, while other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted.”
The U.N. office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that there have been some instances of violent looting and attacks on aid truck drivers, which it described as unacceptable.
BULLET WOUNDS
Hundreds of patients, mainly young boys, were being treated for traumatic injuries, including bullet wounds to the head, chest and knees, according to the WHO.
Peeperkorn said health workers at Nasser hospital and testimonies from family members and friends of those wounded confirmed that the victims had been trying to access aid at sites run by the GHF.
Peeperkorn recounted the cases of a 13-year-old boy shot in the head, as well as a 21-year-old with a bullet lodged in his neck which rendered him paraplegic.
“There is no chance for any reversal or any proper treatment. Young lives are being destroyed forever,” Peeperkorn said, urging for the fighting to stop and for more food aid to be allowed into Gaza.
The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, while displacing most of the population of more than 2 million, triggering widespread hunger and leaving much of the territory in ruins.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday it would probably be known in 24 hours whether Hamas has agreed to accept what he has called a “final proposal” for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin, Editing by Miranda Murray and Alex Richardson
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