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.

A huge explosion at a petrol station in an eastern district of Rome on Friday injured at least 45 people, including 12 police officers and six firefighters, Italian authorities said. The blast at the distributor of petrol,

Dozens of people were injured, including 10 police officers and a firefighter, officials said. The cause of the blast was not immediately clear.