Apartment Block in Ural Mountains Collapses After Gas Explosion

An apartment block in the Ural Mountains region of Sverdlovsk collapsed on Thursday morning after an apparent gas explosion, state media reported, citing emergency service officials.
A large part of the five-story panel building in the industrial city of Nizhny Taigil was completely torn to pieces, videos on social media showed. Officials told state news outlets that a natural gas tank likely exploded, causing the damage.
According to local media reports, residents living nearby said they heard a powerful blast early Thursday.
The state-run TASS news agency, citing emergency officials, reported that at least nine people were injured in the apartment collapse. There were no immediate reports of any deaths, but first responders were searching for people who may have been trapped under the ruble.
Law enforcement authorities launched a criminal probe into the collapse.
Gas explosions in residential buildings are not uncommon in Russia. Many apartment blocks built during the Soviet era are poorly maintained and repair work is sometimes delayed for years or never done at all.
According to TASS, the apartment block that collapsed on Thursday was constructed in 1974 and was scheduled to undergo major remodeling in 2032.
Last September, a gas explosion at a residential building outside Moscow killed several people and injured dozens more.
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