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Putin informed about collapse of residential building in Russia's Izhevsk

Four people were killed, according to the media

CHELYABINSK, November 9. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been informed about the incident in the city of Izhevsk, where a residential building partly collapsed, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"Of course, the president has been informed," he said.

On Thursday, Putin made a working trip to the Chelyabinsk region to take part in the Russian-Kazakh Inter-Regional Cooperation Forum.

According to media reports, four people were killed, while another four suffered injuries as a nine-storey residential building partly collapsed in Izhevsk.

The collapsed section of the building housed 16 apartments where a total of 99 people lived. The city administration said that eight apartments were completely destroyed. A crisis team has been set up in order to provide assistance to the affected people. Head of Izhevsk Yuri Tyurin said that after the building was fully explored, a decision would be made on resettling those who had lost their homes.

Work to clear the rubble continues, emergency sources said, adding that canine teams were exploring the rubble.

A household gas blast is believed to be the preliminary reason for the building’s collapse, the regional government’s press service told TASS. Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched a criminal case over the incident. According to the committee’s sources, investigative activities are underway.

The building’s residents have been evacuated and provided with temporary accommodation in two nearby schools.

Meanwhile, Udmurtia’s head Alexander Brechalov said that numerous bomb calls had been received throughout Izhevsk after the incident. He added that law enforcement agencies were looking into the telephone calls and the situation was under control.