At least four people were killed on Tuesday in a gas explosion that ripped through a five-floor building in the town of Yefremov south of Moscow, Russian emergency services said.
“Five people have been rescued so far, and according to preliminary information, two more remain under the rubble.
Unfortunately, four people died,” the emergency services said, according to Reuters.
Russian local media have cited the Ministry of Emergencies as also saying that several people have been rescued from under the rubble, but there may still be people there.
Data on the victims are being specified, while the emergency services are working at the site.
Even before the arrival of services, passers-by rushed to save people and pulled a child out from under the rubble.
According to a latest report, a gas explosion in an apartment building Saturday killed at least nine people, including four children, on the island of Sakhalin in far eastern Russia, AP reported, citing local authorities.
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A section of the five-story building in the town of Tymovskoye collapsed after a gas cylinder exploded in one of the apartments at around 5:30 a.m. Moscow time, authorities said.
Rescue teams were searching for more victims under the rubble, Sakhalin Gov. Valery Limarenko wrote on Telegram. Some of the 33 people known to have lived in the building remained unaccounted for, he said.
Sakhalin is located in the Pacific Ocean, north of Japan.
According to Limarenko, residents affected by the explosion were offered temporary shelter and families who lost their homes will be paid 500,000 rubles ($8,217). Relatives of the people killed can expect to receive 1 million rubles ($16,434), he said.
