3 firefighters killed in building explosion in Italy

Three firefighters were killed Tuesday after an abandoned building exploded in a town in the northern Piedmont region in the early hours of the morning, firefighters reported on Tuesday.

"Explosion around 2 a.m. in uninhabited building. Two firefighters dead, a third missing. Two more firefighters and a Carabinieri military policeman were injured," firefighters tweeted, posting a photo of a charred building.

A few hours later, firefighters tweeted that "Unfortunately the lifeless body of the missing firefighter has been located in the debris of the collapsed building."

Firefighters later posted a video taken from a helicopter of the site of the explosion, which occurred in a rural town near the northern city of Alessandria.

Italian news agency AdnKronos cited a firefighter as saying that "my colleagues arrived on the scene after one explosion occurred, and once they went inside, another explosion took place. It seems there were a series of triggers meant to blow up the building."

"Everything points to the explosion having been caused deliberately," ANSA news agency cited Alessandria Prosecutor Enrico Cieri as saying after inspecting the site.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella posted his sympathies with the families of the deceased firefighters on the official website of the presidency.