At least 9 people injured after explosion at Rome petrol station

At least nine people, including eight police officers and a firefighter, were injured on Friday after an explosion at a petrol station in the east of Rome, Italian authorities said.

The large blast at the distributor of petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the Prenestino neighbourhood was heard across the Italian capital.

"We are working on a tank explosion ... the fire is still ongoing," the fire department said in a statement, adding one of their officers had been hospitalised.

Emergency services were on the scene before the blast, as they had been called after a truck hit a pipeline at the service station, Italian news agencies reported.

They added that the fire had spread to a nearby depot, while the shockwave from the explosion damaged nearby buildings.

Eight police officers were injured, an official told Reuters, and ambulance workers and passersby were also hurt, news agencies reported, without giving numbers.

Emergency services said that five people had been taken to hospital.

Local news website Roma Today published a photograph of a huge ball of flame and smoke rising high into the sky above the service station and surrounding homes. Separate images released by the fire department showed the petrol station almost completely gutted.

"I heard it as I was leaving the house, there was a very loud bang, the whole house shook and I was afraid the windows might shatter given how strong it was," a Reuters witness said.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was following the situation, her office said in a statement.

(Reuters)