A child has been taken to hospital
with serious injuries after an explosion on Monday at a building
housing the town hall and a school in the town of Rocca di Papa,
near Rome, in which two other children and an adult were also
hurt, sources said.
Mayor Emanuele Crestini was among a total of nine people
hurt, sources said.
Crestini has extensive burns to the face and arms, they said.
A five-year-old girl suffered a head injury.
The explosion, which is believed to have been caused by a gas
leak after workers inadvertently chopped through a gas main,
caused part of the facade of the three-storey building to
collapse.
The children were in an adjacent school.
They were hit by flying class and masonry, sources said.
Residents in homes near to the scene, which is close to the
local town hall, have been evacuated and the area has been
sealed off, the sources said.
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