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.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
RSS