More than 40 people have been injured after a huge explosion at a Rome petrol station caused widespread damage. Reports say emergency services were already at the scene in the Prenestino neighbourhood on Friday after a tanker truck hit a pipe while manoeuvring, causing a gas leak and smaller initial blast at around 08:00 local time (07:00 BST).

A gas station explosion in southeastern Rome has injured at least 40 people, including eleven police officers and a firefighter who rushed to the scene, but wider loss of lives was narrowly averted, the city's mayor said.