‘Several injured’ after huge explosion shakes Rome

A video caught the moment of the explosion

The explosion is believed to have come from a petrol station which sent a huge fire ball high into the sky as well as sending a loud bang across the city.

Italian site Ansa reported that 10 people have been injured including three people with severe burns.

Sky News has since reported that 20 people were injured in the incident.

A truck is believed to have hit a gas pipe, with police saying two consecutive blasts occurred while emergency services were at the scene.

Multiple emergency responders have been injured.

Locals in the Prenestino district said that they believed the explosion was an earthquake at first with windows shaking so much leading to people fleeing their buildings.

One person described hearing a "very loud explosion" that "sounded like a bomb.’

Another added: "All the windows shook. I thought it was an earthquake."

A local news site Roman Today showed pictures of a huge tower of smoke and fire above the petrol station.

Rome’s public transport agency Atac said it closed the nearby metro station ‘Teano’ following police orders.