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Novosibirsk rescuers confirm that gas blast killed 13 people

The head of the Novosibirsk Region department of the Russian emergencies ministry Viktor Orlov added that some remains can only be identified by DNA testing

NOVOSIBIRSK, February 10. /TASS/. The head of the Novosibirsk Region department of the Russian emergencies ministry, Viktor Orlov, confirmed on Friday that 13 people had been killed in a household gas blast in Novosibirsk.

"We count 13 people as dead," he told reporters, adding that there were strong reasons to believe that this is the final death toll.

He added that some remains can only be identified by DNA testing.

"Some remains were <…> quite fragmented. Identification [will be carried out with the help of] DNA testing," Orlov said.

An explosion struck an apartment block in Novosibirsk at 07:43 a.m. local time (03:43 a.m. Moscow time) on Thursday, causing two sections of the building to collapse and starting a fire that engulfed the area of about 300 square meters. According to preliminary data by the emergency services, the blast was triggered by a gas leak.