A British vacationer has been left severely injured after a suspected gasoline explosion destroyed a three-storey B&B in Rome.
Grant Paterson, 54, from East Kilbride in South Lanarkshire, has reportedly been left severely burned after the explosion within the Monteverde space of the Italian metropolis on Sunday morning.
Mr Paterson was pulled out of the ruins by firefighters and is presently present process remedy at Sant’Eugenio Hospital.
A witness on the scene stated Mr Paterson was screaming beneath the collapsed constructing earlier than being saved by the emergency crew.
A neighbour reported the explosion made his home home windows shake, whereas one other witness thought it had been a bomb or an earthquake.
The Overseas, Commonwealth and Improvement Workplace (FCDO) stated it’s supporting Mr Paterson’s household and is involved with the native authorities.
It’s understood Mr Paterson arrived in Rome on 17 March and was as a result of return residence on Monday.
The B&B, named Mamma Roma, was on Through Vitellia within the busy neighbourhood of Monteverde, within the southwest a part of Rome.
Flying particles from the explosion, which occurred round 8.40am, broken a number of automobiles and a part of the wall of Villa Doria Pamphili – a seventeenth-century villa which additionally serves because the consultant seat of the Italian authorities.
Greater than a dozen individuals had been evacuated and are presently unable to return to their houses.
Rome’s Public Prosecutors’ Places of work has opened a probe into the case. In the mean time it’s a suspected gasoline leak.
The mayor earlier visited the scene and advised reporters he had ordered a full investigation into the explosion.
Mr Gualtieri stated: “The important thing is that fortunately there are no victims, although unfortunately one person was seriously injured.
“Most certainly he’s a visitor of a hospitality facility, of Scottish origin.
“We don’t know his exact condition, but he suffered burns, and this also suggests that it was an explosion caused by gas, which also causes flames.
“It was a really loud explosion, a constructing collapsed and the wall of Villa Pamphili was additionally broken.”
