On July 4, 2025, a gas station and LPG outlet in eastern Rome erupted in fire and then a second explosion, leaving at least 45 people injured and turning Via dei Gordiani into a major emergency scene.
Roma Today said the blast hit an Eni station near Villa De Sanctis, with the sequence beginning after a gas smell, a first explosion, a fire and then another detonation. The account describes a thick black plume visible from multiple parts of the city and a broad evacuation response as residents and motorists ran for the nearby park and sports center.
The injury count included civilians and emergency workers. Roma Today said the injured comprised 11 police officers, three ambulance workers, one carabiniere and six firefighters, alongside 24 residents, passers-by and local workers. It also said officials were reporting two people in serious condition.
The article described one of the most affected sites as the Sant'Eugenio hospital, where the two most serious patients were said to be supported by mechanical ventilation and treated in the burns unit. One had burns over 55% of his body and the other over 25%, with a pre-existing medical condition compounding his case. The same report said the more seriously injured man worked at the fuel station.
Roma Today also said the first arrivals included firefighters, civil protection volunteers, state police, carabinieri and municipal police, with the emergency response expanding within about half an hour. Additional hospitals were placed on alert, and emergency departments activated internal mass-casualty procedures.
The report said the original emergency was sparked when firefighters were called after a truck struck a gas pipe, causing a leak. When responders arrived, the first explosion followed while refuelling was underway, and the second blast damaged nearby buildings and an ambulance depot. Officials later said the early focus was on securing the area and then checking surrounding buildings door to door for injured or trapped people.
The blast also forced the evacuation of a nearby summer camp at Villa De Sanctis, where 15 children were present, and the clearing of two nearby apartment blocks. Roma Today said around 40 people were helped after being trapped in a building close to the blast zone. The report also said ambulances were dispatched from across Rome and responders arrived from other cities, underscoring the scale of the response.
The incident raised immediate questions about the sequence of events at the station, but the published evidence in the packet stops at the early emergency phase. What is clear from the reporting is that the fire quickly became a citywide response, with multiple agencies, hospitals and rescue teams pulled into a fast-moving public safety operation that affected both workers and nearby residents.
By late morning, the focus had shifted from the initial blast to treatment, evacuation and damage assessment, while investigators were expected to examine how the gas leak, the refuelling operation and the subsequent ignition were connected.
