The explosion was heard across the Italian capital shortly after 8 a.m. local time and sent a huge cloud of dark smoke and fire that was visible from across the city.

More than 20 people, including nine police officers and a firefighter, were injured on Friday in a huge explosion at a petrol station in an eastern district of Rome, Italian authorities said. Website Roma Today published a photograph of a huge ball of flame and smoke rising high into the sky.

People living nearby in the Prenestino district described their windows shaking from the explosion before they fled in panic.