Russian rescuers discover new bodies in a building that fell after the gas explosion

Emergency teams inspect debris during a rescue operation after the accident Magnitogorsk gas explosion, December 31, 2018 – AFP

A gas explosion that destroyed Monday (28) a building in Magnitogorsk, Ural, killed 28 people, including four children, while that the rescuers continued the search operations while it was very freezing cold.

According to a report from the Ministry of Emergency Situations issued at 17:45 GMT, the bodies of 28 people, including four children, were found in the building, which partially collapsed, according to the report. ministry.

19659004] "Relief work is continuing," added the ministry, noting that debris of an area of ​​800 square meters had been removed from the site in recent years.

Six people, including two children, were saved and 13 others are still missing.

Part of this nine-story building collapsed on Monday in Magnitogorsk, an industrial city in the Chechikap region, about 1,700 kilometers east of Moscow, in the mountains of Japan. 39; Ural. people lived in this building built in 1973, during the Soviet era.

On Tuesday, rescuers found a baby alive under the rubble.

Flowers and candles were left near the site of the explosion in the honor of the victims, while the governor of the region said Wednesday a day of mourning. We are all in mourning, "said a man at Rossiya's No. 24 radio station. Almost everyone in the city knew people "affected by the accident," he said.

The Russian Research Committee, responsible for the main investigations in the country, announced Tuesday, no trace No explosive nor their components were found in the debris that was removed.

Rumors circulating in some media suggest the possibility that the gas explosion was deliberately provoked. The rumors gained weight after another explosion Tuesday night in a micro-bus, also in Magnitogorsk, which killed three people, according to local authorities.

Monday, just after the blast, the Russian President Vladimir Putin returned to the scene of the incident.

An investigation was opened, but the Russian security services (FSB) confirmed that a gas explosion was at the origin of tragedy.

Gas explosions are relatively common in Russia, most of the infrastructure going back to Soviet times and security rules are often ignored. Located in a region rich in minerals, the city of Magnitogorsk, which has 400,000 inhabitants, is home to one of the largest steel mills in Russia.