Four family members killed after gas explosion in Italy

Four members of the same family, including two young children, were killed in a gas explosion that caused their home to partially collapse in southern Italy.

The tragedy occurred in the town of Saviano, near Naples, where a two-storey house was destroyed by the blast early Monday morning.

The victims include a boy and a girl, their mother, and their grandmother.

Italian firefighters, the Vigili del Fuoco, said the father and a newborn baby were rescued alive from the rubble.

The father remains in serious condition at a hospital in Naples, while the baby’s injuries are not life-threatening, according to local media.

“The parents and their three children lived on one floor of the house, while the grandmother lived on the floor above,” the Vigili del Fuoco said in a statement.

Rescue teams worked throughout the day and into the night to recover the victims, eventually locating the mother at 16:45 and the grandmother after midnight.

The explosion occurred at around 07:00 local time (06:00 BST). The exact cause is still under investigation, but preliminary theories point to a gas explosion as the cause of the collapse.

Drone footage from the scene showed large holes in the building’s roof, with much of the structure reduced to rubble.

Over 60 civil protection volunteers were involved in the rescue operation, which continued for hours with the assistance of sniffer dogs.

The fire service shared images of rescue teams working into the night, carefully sifting through debris to avoid further collapses.