A huge explosion at a petrol station in Rome this morning has left at least 30 people injured, some with severe burns, and caused residents to flee their homes.
Shocking footage showed fires raging and a thick cloud of smoke emanating from the site of the blast – a petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) station at 34 Via dei Gordiani in the Italian capital’s eastern Prenestino district.
The punishing explosion, which erupted at 8.18am this morning according to Italian media, levelled the entire lot.
Clips shared to social media by horrified locals showed blackened tarmac littered with debris at the scene, while a webcam feed managed to capture the mushroom-cloud-like explosion rising over the city.
Emergency services were already at the scene before the blast. They had been called minutes earlier amid reports that a truck hit a petrol pump at the service station and caused a fire, Italian news agencies reported.
Elisabetta Accardo, a spokesperson for the Roman police, explained that fire triggered a small explosion which in turn set off a devastating chain reaction.
‘There were a few chain explosions after the first one,’ Accardo told Italian state broadcaster RAI. The second explosion was significantly larger and destroyed the entire facility.
At least nine police and fire service workers were hurt, five of which were rushed to hospital with significant burns and injuries from broken glass, though no one has yet been reported killed.
One eyewitness told Italian outlet La Repubblica that it looked as though a bomb had gone off.
‘I was running, as the crow flies I was less than a hundred meters from the gas pump,’ Massimo Bartoletti said.
‘I saw the first explosion with the classic fireball. Shortly after came the second one which was hellish. A fiery mushroom cloud formed in the sky. It shook the whole area. It looked like hell, everything was flying in the sky.’
Parts of a fuel tanker were reportedly blown hundreds of metres away from the station, such was the force of the blast.
A civilian sprints away from a huge explosion at the petrol station
One camera managed to capture the mushroom-cloud-like explosion rising over the city
The punishing explosion, which erupted at 8.18am this morning according to Italian media, levelled the entire lot
Firefighters are pictured at the scene in the aftermath of several explosions
Fires are seen raging at the petrol station this morning in Rome
Emergency servicies personnel help an elderly woman near the scene where a gas station exploded on the outskirts of Rome, Italy, July 4, 2025
Accident at a gas station in via dei Gordiani, Prenestino district, caused an explosion and a loud bang heard in many neighbourhoods of the capital
