Eighteen people saved in first few hours after Magnitogorsk building collapse

MOSCOW. KAZINFORM Eighteen people have been rescued in the first few hours after the building collapse in Magnitogorsk, the Russian Emergencies Ministry press service told TASS.

A section of a ten-story apartment block collapsed in Magnitogorsk on December 31. According to the latest data, the accident claimed the lives of 39 people, among them six children. The search and rescue operation on recovering bodies trapped under the rubble finished on January 3. The Russian Investigative Committee views a household gas explosion as the main cause of the accident, TASS reports.

"With the help of special high-altitude equipment, eighteen people have been rescued from the semi-destroyed apartments <...> in the first few hours after the tragedy. Another six people, including two children, were saved by the Emergencies Ministry employees during the operation on the removal of the rubble," the Russian Emergencies Ministry informed.

Over a thousand rescue workers participated in the operation, under constant threat of further collapse of the building. The rescue and search operation on recovering bodies from the rubble has finished, a Russian Emergencies Ministry official said earlier, adding that "the rescue and search operation is moving on to the next stage, the so-called engineering stage."

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