The alarm came just after 8 o'clock on Friday morning and a smoke column rose tens of meters in Prenestino in southeastern Rome.
At least 50 people are injured and the number is expected to rise, writes Corriere della Sera. Two people have serious burns and are receiving intensive care, according to healthcare sources for the newspaper.
A summer camp for children in the vicinity was evacuated, reports AFP, and a roof is said to have been thrown 300 meters away. Several buildings have been damaged and the nearby subway station Teano has been closed.
"Like a bomb"
All the windows shook, I thought of an earthquake, says a witness in the nearby Centocelle to the newspaper.
In a video published by Rai, a fire can be seen at the gas station first, and then a powerful explosion.
The explosions were heard in large parts of the city. A traffic police officer describes that "it felt like a bomb". During the seven, eight minutes that passed between the smoke and the explosion, many lives were saved, the police officer says.
Meloni thanks
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni thanks everyone who has ensured that even more serious consequences could be avoided.
– I want, on behalf of the government and myself, to express heartfelt thanks to the police, the fire department, the local police in Rome's capital, healthcare personnel and those in civil protection, and to all who intervened quickly and effectively, she says.
Even in the evening, residents within three kilometers of the explosion site were urged to stay indoors to avoid inhaling the smoke.
