2024-08-03 22:08:48
A block of flats collapsed after a gas explosion this week
A total of 10 people, including 5 children, have died after a block of flats in a town in the Ural Mountains partially collapsed following a gas explosion earlier this week, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said, announcing the end of the rescue and search operation after two days of searching, the Associated Press reported.
Another 15 people, including 7 children, were rescued, the official authorities announced, BTA recalls.
Pictures released by Russian news agencies this week showed much of the five-story panel building in the industrial city of Nizhny Tagil in Sverdlovsk Oblast leveled to the ground.
According to the Russian Emergencies Ministry, the probable cause was an explosion of a natural gas cylinder. Residents of neighboring blocks told Russian media that they heard a loud explosion just before the collapse. Heavy equipment and more than 550 rescuers were involved in the rescue operations, the department specified.
Russian law enforcement authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the incident. The authorities in Nizhny Tagil declared today a day of mourning, AP notes.