MOSCOW, December 31. /TASS/. The death toll in a gas explosion in a house in Russia’s Urals city of Magnitogorsk has reached four, while the fate of 68 residents remains unknown, Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region Boris Dubrovsky said on Monday.

Out of 120 residents, four died, 16 others were evacuated, including seven children, another four were hospitalized, among them two children, and 28 people contacted the authorities, Dubrovsky wrote on his Telegram account.

Earlier, the governor said some 50 people are believed to be trapped under the rubble.

A total of eight people have been retrieved, four of them were injured and four were killed.

The gas explosion hit an apartment building in downtown Magnitogorsk early on Monday, causing the collapse of an entrance hall. The rescue and search effort is underway, involving 469 personnel and 66 pieces of equipment.

More than 100 rescuers of the Urals training rescue center of the Emergencies Ministry are heading to join the effort. A Mi-8 helicopter with two canine teams has been sent to the scene from Yekaterinburg.

Two other entrance halls in the building are also at the risk of collapse, the city administration said.

The mourning will be declared in Magnitogorsk following the tragedy.