An explosion at an apartment building in Russia’s Rostov region this morning triggered the collapse of two floors, the Russian Emergencies Ministry press service reported.
One woman was killed and two more people are trapped under rubble. Another 140 people have been evacuated from the apartment block.
"Seven people have been rescued, one person was killed, he was found on the ninth floor," TASS cited the source as saying.
The source added that 14 people were living in the four apartments damaged in the blast, including three children. Seven of them were rescued, one was killed.
The authorities say the blast was likely caused by a gas explosion. The gas blast occurred in apartment 71 on the ninth floor on Khabarova Street 16, Rostov region governor Vasily Golubev confirmed.
According to the Russian Emergencies Ministry, a gas blast took place on the ninth floor of a residential building built in 1993 in the city of Shakhty, Rostov Region. Four apartments have been damaged as a result of the blast, on the ninth and eighth floors. There are 72 apartments in the building in total.
The search and rescue operation is currently underway, with nearly 120 rescuers and 35 equipment units deployed at the site.
