AP – A gas explosion in an apartment building yesterday killed at least nine people, including four children, on the island of Sakhalin in far eastern Russia, according local authorities.
A section of the five-storey building in the town of Tymovskoye collapsed after a gas cylinder exploded in one of the apartments at around 5.30am Moscow time, authorities said.
Rescue teams were searching for more victims under the rubble, Sakhalin Governor 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 RUB500,000 (USD8,217). Relatives of the people killed can expect to receive RUB1 million (USD16,434), he said.
