Russia: 18 Bodies Recovered From Collapsed Building in Magnitogorsk

Local Editor

Two more bodies – of a child and a man - were removed from the rubble of the site of a gas explosion in a residential building that collapsed in the Russian city of Magnitogorsk, Sputnik reported on Wednesday.

"Rescuers recovered the body of a girl, about three years old, and a man from the rubble. The total death toll has increased to 18 people," the Russian Emergencies Ministry said.

Earlier, the ministry stated that emergency workers found another body in the debris, bringing the death toll, at the time, to 16.

Meanwhile, the fate of dozens of people remains unknown. Rescue works are hindered by the risk of debris collapsing.

Relatively, Russian President Vladimir Putin cut his New Year's holiday plans short to visit the accident site on the day of the disaster; 2 January was declared a day of mourning in the Chelyabinsk Region following the tragedy.

The collapse was reasoned by a natural gas blast on Monday that hit one of the sections of a 10-storey block of flats in Magnitogorsk, a city in Russia's Chelyabinsk Region, fully destroying 35 apartments and damaging 10 others.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team