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Death toll in Ukraine apartment blast rises to 26
The death toll from an explosion that levelled half of an apartment building in southern Ukraine has reached 26.
An emergency official says the death toll from an explosion that levelled half of an apartment building in southern Ukraine has reached 26.
Volodymyr Ivanov says other residents of the 35 apartments destroyed on Wednesday night blast could still be trapped under the rubble.
Ivanov said on Friday that 21 have been rescued and are in hospital.
He says emergency officials have been working round the clock to remove debris, pausing every hour to listen for cries for help.
He said investigators believe oxygen cannisters in the basement of the five story building in the Crimea peninsula resort of Yevpatoriya exploded.
Most of the destroyed section's 62 registered inhabitants would have been home at the time, ministry spokesman Ihor Krol said earlier.
