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Russian emergencies minister says impossible to continue rubble removal in Magnitogorsk

Sources in the Emergencies Ministry told TASS that it might take up to 24 hours to remove the risk of a new collapse.

MOSCOW, January 1. /TASS/. It is impossible to continue the rubble removal operation at the site of an apartment block collapse in the city of Magnitogorsk as more sections of the building may collapse, Russian Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev said on Tuesday, as cited by the ministry’s press service.

"There is a real risk that more sections of the building will collapse," he said, adding that under the circumstances, it was impossible to continue with the work.

Sources in the Emergencies Ministry told TASS that it might take up to 24 hours to remove the risk of a new collapse.

Meanwhile, a government commission dealing with the aftermath of the building collapse has decided that the apartment block’s overhanging parts and one of section seven’s wall must be dismantled.

A section of a ten-storey apartment block collapsed in Magnitogorsk on Monday. The accident killed eight and left five injured. The injured have been hospitalized, one of them is said to be in critical condition. A total of 36 people are still unaccounted for. The Russian Investigative Committee views a household gas explosion as the main cause of the accident.