3 household gas explosions in a week: 15 died

At least seven people were killed and 12 injured in two separate household gas explosions in Russia on Monday.

At least six people, including two girls, the first four months old and the second six years old, died after a household gas explosion in Russia`s southern Stavropol Territory.

The blast went off at 2:18 a.m. local time (11:18 p.m. Sunday GMT) in a five-floor apartment block in the town of Zheleznovodsk.

A total of 58 people were evacuated from the building, and three people are being treated in hospital. Rescue efforts have now been wound down, as rescuers believe there are no more people trapped under the rubble.

A source in the local prosecutor general`s office said the explosion was likely to have been caused by the improper handling of a gas-heating device.

At least one man was killed and nine others injured in a similar explosion in Russia`s Volga area region of Samara. One of those injured, a worker who was apparently doing repairs in an apartment on the fourth floor, is now in the serious burns unit at a local hospital. Another six people were rushed to hospital with concussion and acute stress disorder.

"The explosion occurred in a five-storey apartment block in the town of Novokuibyshevsk [in the Samara Region] at 2:25 p.m. local time (10:25 a.m. GMT)," an Emergency Situations Ministry official said.

Novokubyshevsk Mayor Oleg Volkov said the body of a man discovered by rescue workers had been identified as "the occupant of apartment 13."

The blast completely ruined four apartments and damaged four others and blew out windows in a neighboring school. A fire caused by the blast has still not been extinguished, police said.

A senior investigator in the Samara Region said an investigation was being conducted into suspected violations of safety rules during repairs in the apartment where the blast is believed to have occurred.

"According to preliminary reports, the explosion occurred in an apartment that was undergoing repairs," said Yury Sliva.

Regional prosecutors later said that they were not excluding the possibility of terrorism although the most likely cause of the blast remained negligence in connection with repair work.

On January 9, eight people were killed in a natural gas explosion in an apartment building in Russia`s Republic of Tatarstan.

sections: Accidents, Region News
regions: Volga region, Southern region