Two people were seriously injured Friday morning when an explosion ripped through a four-storey apartment block on the outskirts of Perugia, collapsing the top floor and sending debris across neighbouring buildings.
The blast occurred shortly after 9 a.m. at a residential building on Via Giambattista Vico. A 35-year-old woman was found on the ground in the building's garden and resuscitated by emergency medical personnel; a neighbour said he had seen her leaning from a fourth-floor window. A man in his fifties, who was in an adjacent apartment, was also hurt. Both were taken in critical condition to Santa Maria della Misericordia hospital.
Firefighters ordered the immediate evacuation of the building. The roof and fourth floor collapsed, scattering glass, wood, and masonry onto surrounding balconies and rooftops. No one is reported missing. Six displaced residents are to be rehoused by municipal social services while authorities investigate the cause.