Moscow, Mar 16: The death toll in the explosion in an apartment block in Arkhangelsk in northern Russia has risen to nine So far 22 people have been rescued from the debris of the nine-storey building and 12 have been hospitalised, the Russian emergency situations ministry spokesman said.
The explosion occured at 1500 hrs local time (0530 IST). A total of 76 people were living in the block.
Russia’s channel one television station reported that so far 22 people have been rescued from under the debris.
Mayor Oleg Nilov said it appeared it was a gas explosion, but sources did not exclude the possibility of an intentional blast. Bureau Report