3 killed, 2 hurt in Catania blast (5)

(ANSA) - Catania, March 21 - Two firefighters were killed along with a resident and two more firefighters seriously injured in an explosion in a Catania apartment block on Tuesday night, local sources said.
    The dead firemen were named as Dario Ambiamonte, 40, and Giorgio Grammatico, 38.
    The apartment building resident killed was 75-year-old Giuseppe Longo.
    The two injured firemen are in the intensive care unit of the Garibaldi Hospital.
    One suffered major pulmonary trauma and the other severe concussion and various other injuries.
    "The two men are still in serious condition", hospital sources said.
    The condition of one of the pair, Giuseppe Cannavò, 38, worsened overnight while the condition of the other, 38-year-old Marcello Tavormina, was stable.
    Tavormina was placed under investigation, as a formality, for culpable disaster and culpable multiple manslaughter.
    Cannavò was said to be fighting for his life while Tavormina was in a critical but not life-threatening condition, hospital sources said.
    Italy's national fire service commander Gioacchino Giomi visited the two men in hospital Wednesday.
    One firefighter who was unhurt said "it was a dramatic scene." He said "I don't know how others were not killed".
    Prosecutors have impounded part of the building.
    Neighbours were able to return to their homes overnight.
    The cause of the blast is still unknown but it is believed to have been caused by a gas leak.