SARATOV, July 25. /TASS/. At least three people were killed in a gas explosion and the resulting partial collapse of a 10-storey residential building in Russia's Saratov, a source in the emergency services told TASS.
"According to preliminary data, three people were killed," the source said.
This information was later confirmed by Russia's Emergencies Ministry. There was no fire following the explosion, but the end section of the panel building was destroyed between the tenth and seventh floors, the ministry specified.
The source in the emergency services said that the building's end section collapsed from the tenth floor down to the first. Rescuers are currently searching for survivors, as people may be trapped under the rubble.