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Death toll in Russia’s Yaroslavl house collapse rises to seven

Three women, two men, a five-year boy and a teenage girl have been killed in the accident, according to the latest data

MOSCOW, February 16. /TASS/. Rescuers have retrieved three more bodies from the rubble of a collapsed section of a residential building in central Russia’s Yaroslavl, bringing the death toll to seven, the emergencies ministry said on Tuesday.

"Thus, the death toll is seven," an official at the press service said.

Three women, two men, a five-year boy and a teenage girl have been killed in the accident, according to the latest data. Nine other people have been injured and three of them are in a serious condition.

A section of the five-storey house in Yaroslavl collapsed at 4.20 a.m. Moscow Time (0120GMT) on Tuesday following a suspected gas explosion. Five apartments were completely destroyed and ten others were partially damaged.

Leonid Belyaev, the deputy head of Russia’s emergencies ministry, has earlier ruled out a terrorist attack as the cause of the building’s collapse saying that various causes were considered. "This is most likely a human factor," Belyaev said.

Earlier reports said a criminal investigation was launched into implementation of works or providing services that failed to meet security requirements.