Eleven dead in Ukraine gas blast
At least 11 people were killed and 23 others injured on Saturday in a natural gas explosion in an apartment building in eastern Ukraine.
At least 11 people were killed and 23 others injured on Saturday in a natural gas explosion in an apartment building in eastern Ukraine, the emergency situations ministry said.
The previous toll of nine rose after rescuers found two more bodies in the remains of the building that was partially destroyed in the blast in the city of Dnipropetrovsk.
The two bodies could not yet be taken out of the building, according to the regional branch of the ministry. Twenty-three others, including six children, were hospitalised, the ministry said earlier.
"A section of the centre of the building completely collapsed," said Olexander Dmyterko, a spokesman for the regional branch of the ministry.
Interfax reported that authorities were still seeking to locate at least 21 people who could have been inside the 10-storey building, which housed around 400 people, at the time of the blast.
The explosion at 1330 IST collapsed part of the block and broke windows of neighbouring buildings.
Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and other ministers went to the scene of the tragedy and President Viktor Yushchenko expressed his condolences.
Around 100 rescuers searched late today with sniffer dogs for survivors among the building's debris after emergency services had evacuated panicked residents from the remaining part of the block.
Local inhabitants brought food, warm clothes and blankets to victims sheltering at a nearby school.
