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Russians donate $700,000 for victims of apartment block collapse in Magnitogorsk

The December 31 accident killed 39 people

MOSCOW, January 10. /TASS/. Russians have donated more than 47 mln rubles ($700,000) for the victims of an apartment block collapse in the Urals city of Magnitogorsk, a donation website said.

According to the website, over five mln rubles ($74,600) have already been paid out to those affected by the accident so that they can rent apartments and pay funeral expenses.

The All-Russia People's Front, the Chelyabinsk Region’s government and the Magnitogorsk city administration launched the website to publish official information about donations and the distribution of funds among those who suffered from the apartment block collapse.

State compensations

More than 90 million rubles (about $1.3 million at the current exchange rate) was allocated from the federal and regional budgets as a compensation to victims of the December 31 house collapse in the Urals city of Magnitogorsk, a spokesperson for the region’s governor has told TASS.

"A total of 459 payments were made from the regional budget, amounting to 45.9 million rubles [over $685,500] in total. Some 46.6 million - or 522 installments - was allocated from the federal budget," the source said.

Chelyabinsk Region Governor Boris Dubrovsky approved the following compensations: families of the deceased will get 1 million rubles (approximately $15,000), people who sustained grave or serious injuries - 400,000 (approximately $6,000) rubles, those with slight injuries - 200,000 (approximately $3,000) rubles.

A section of a ten-storey apartment block collapsed in Magnitogorsk on the morning of December 31 following a household gas explosion. The accident killed 39. A total of 18 people, including two children, were rescued during a search and rescue operation, which lasted four days.