An explosion blamed on a natural gas leak destroyed a section of a nine-story apartment building in the northern Russian city of Arkhan-gelsk early yesterday as residents slept, killing at least 15 people and leaving dozens trapped, rescuers said.
Authorities refused to rule out terrorism amid heightened tension in Russia after a series of terrorist attacks blamed on Chechen rebels. In 1999, explosions blamed on rebels ripped through apartment buildings in Moscow and two other cities, killing some 300 people.
Yesterday's blast hit at 3:25am when most of the 80 residents registered in the building in Arkhangelsk, about 960km north of Moscow, would have been at home and in bed, said Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Marina Ryklina.
Eighteen people have been retrieved from under the rubble, said Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Sergei Vlasov. He said that emergency officials believed around 50 people remained trapped under the debris.
Valery Ishchenko, chief of the local rescue headquarters, said that five bodies were recovered, and 20 people received medical treatment.
The explosion sheared a whole section of the building off, leaving huge chunks of debris. Windows in neighboring buildings were blown out by the force of the blast.
Russian state television showed footage of rescue crews clambering over the debris, using power saws to cut through piles of building materials as cranes lifted off the biggest beams.
Authorities said a gas leak was the most likely cause of the blast, though other causes, including terrorism, were not ruled out.
"The base version is a natural gas explosion," Vladimir Lobanov, a regional official, told Russian state television. He said gas officials were checking all buildings in the area.
City fire service official Alexei Semyonov said that there was a strong smell of gas at the blast site and that gas leaks had been reported in other Arkhangelsk buildings overnight, according to remarks shown on Russian television. Citing an unidentified gas worker, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported that overnight repair teams had to fix gas leaks in two neighboring buildings after discovering "plugs unscrewed from the gas pipes" -- hinting at possible sabotage.
A fire broke out after the building section collapsed, complicating rescue efforts, the Interfax news agency reported. An Il-76 cargo plane arrived in Arkhangelsk from Moscow, carrying more rescue workers and heavy equipment. Two Mi-8 helicopters also departed from Karelia, bringing rescue crews and search dogs, Vlasov said.
Arkhangelsk prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into the case on charges of death by negligence and causing damage through negligence, a standard procedure, Interfax reported. The General Prosecutor's Office said it wasn't excluding any possibility, but the main likelihood remained a gas explosion.
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