Brit tourist, 54, ‘fighting for his life’ after explosion at B&B in Rome as horrified locals recall ‘insane bang’
A BRITISH tourist has reportedly been rushed to hospital after a “terrifying” explosion ripped through his holiday apartment.
The tourist, believed to be a 54-year-old Scotsman, was rescued from under heaps of rubble with horrified neighbours revealing they heard an “insane bang” which sounded like a bomb going off.
The Italian city of Rome was rocked by an explosion at around 9am on Sunday morning.
A huge blast erupted inside a B&B apartment which quickly caused the two-storey building in the city’s Monteverde neighbourhood to collapse.
The Brit was said to have been staying in the apartment since mid-March based on his social media.
The blast, suspected to have been caused by a gas leak, left the home crumbled into pieces as pictures show the devastating aftermath.
Emergency crews rushed to Monteverde to help rescue anyone trapped under the built-up debris which had formed on the road.
Firefighters said they soon heard desperate cries for help beneath the wreckage.
They spent nearly an hour trying to free the man who was rushed to Rome’s Sant’Eugenio Hospital suffering from burns to 70 per cent of his body, authorities said.
A witness later told Rai television news: “I was stopped at the traffic lights at the intersection when I heard an explosion.
“It was like a bomb, a terrifying bomb.”
Another woman who lives on the same street was cleaning her apartment at the time of the explosion.
She also said it sounded as if a bomb had gone off as all her windows started to shake.
Roberto Gualtieri, the mayor of Rome, has since visited the ruins and said he is now working with police and civil protection officials to investigate what happened.
He said: “Initial findings seem to indicate that it was a gas leak, perhaps from a cylinder that exploded, causing very significant damage.
“There is one injured person. He is reportedly a guest of an accommodation facility, and investigations are under way into the B&B.”
No other injures have been reported.
Domestic gas explosions are tragically common across Italy.
Last September, a family was torn apart when two young children, their mum and grandma all died after a gas explosion.
The home in Saviano, near Naples, was left partially collapsed in the blast with the local community being rocked by their shock deaths.