Ashgabat, Nov 06: Seven people were killed and dozens more injured after an explosion apparently caused by leaking gas ripped through a residential block in Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat, officials said today. "The results of a preliminary investigation suggest that the cause was leaking natural gas," Igor Shilov, a senior member of the ex-Soviet Republic's Civil Defence Department, told journalists.
The blast occurred in an Ashgabat suburb yesterday and destroyed three floors of the four-story building.
The dead included one child and around 30 people were injured, residents said.
Explosions caused by faulty gas distribution equipment frequently claim lives across much of the former Soviet Union.
Tearful residents picked through the devastation searching for belongings and tried to arrange alternative accommodation while soldiers assisted in the clear-up. Bureau Report