MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/. As many as 43 people were rescued from the section of a residential building hit by a household gas blast in the city of Shakhty, Rostov region, the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s press service told TASS.
"A total of 140 people have been evacuated, 43 of them were rescued from the building’s affected section and another seven were pulled out of the rubble alive. One died and four remain missing," the press service said.
According to the ministry, there were three people in apartment number 71: a woman was killed, while a man and a child were rescued alive. A woman who lived in apartment number 72 is missing. "Three people lived in apartment number 68, they are being searched for. Five people were rescued from apartment number 67 on the eighth floor," the ministry said.
"A temporary accommodation center has been set up at a children’s culture center, where the evacuated people can get hot meals, medical and psychological assistance and consult with social workers," the Emergencies Ministry said, adding that a hotline established in the wake of the accident was still operating.
According to earlier reports, a gas and air mixture exploded on the ninth floor of a residential building in Shakhty, killing one. The explosion damaged four apartments on the ninth and eighth floors.