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Collapse of a House Kills 21 in Arkhangelsk
March 16, According to the information provided by Russian Ministry of Emergencies (MChS), the collapse of a nine-storey apartment house killed at least 21 people in Arkhangelsk including two children. Rescuers continue to dismantle the ruins and the number of victims may keep growing.
By the latest data, provided by deputy head of MChS information department Viktor Beltsov, the number of casuatlies has reached 24 people.
The explosion at 120 Sovetskie Kosmonavty Street (Oktyabrsky district of Arkhangelsk)happened on the night of March 15-16 at 3 a.m. Moscow time. As a result the 9th doorway section of the house collapsed.
The tragedy could be caused by gas explosion, RIA Novosti reports. Sixty-three people lived in this part of the house.
Police in Arkhangelsk is after two men suspected of complicity in the explosion, a source in the press service of the regional Internal Affairs Department told ITAR-TASS on Tuesday afternoon.
“Residents of the building, in which the explosion went off, had seen two men, most probably persons without permanent domicile, carrying tools and metal piping. According to our sources, those men could have stolen the valves from the domestic gas piping, which resulted in a major leakage of gas and subsequent explosion," the press service source said to ITAR-TASS.
ITAR-TASS also reports, that the suspicion was borne out by the fact that two other domestic gas leaks caused by similar removal of valves were reported in the neighboring houses. The leaks were promptly sealed.
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