MOSCOW, December 8. /TASS/. The death toll in a partially collapsed building following a gas explosion in Nizhnevartovsk in the Khanty-Mansi autonomous district in Russia’s West Siberia rose to nine after one of those injured in the incident died in a hospital, the regional government reported on Thursday, citing local health officials.
Earlier, eight bodies were found under the rubble of the building.
"According to the Yugra Health Department, as of the morning of December 8, three people injured in a collapse of a building in Mira Street in Nizhnevartovsk continued treatment in regional hospitals. Doctors at a burn center in Surgut have been fighting for the lives of the victims all these days. Unfortunately, a 62-year-old female patient could not be saved," the local government said in a statement.
Another in-patient is in severe condition at a burn center, while the condition of in-patients at the Nizhnevartovsk District Clinical Hospital is stable, non-life threatening, the local administration said.
A household gas explosion rocked a five-story apartment block in Nizhnevartovsk on December 4, causing a partial collapse of the building. Floor decks between the first, second and third floors at one of the entrances were damaged. The Russian Investigative Committee has launched a criminal case into the incident.