Russian apartment search ends, 39 dead

Russia's emergencies ministry has declared an end to a search through the wreckage of a partially collapsed apartment building, saying 39 bodies were found.

A search through concrete rubble from a partially collapsed Russian apartment building has ended with 39 confirmed dead, Russia's emergencies ministry says.

The ministry declared the operation involved hundreds of rescue workers completed on Thursday, three-and-a-half days after a section of a 10-story apartment block collapsed in an explosion.

Forty-eight apartments were damaged in the building, located in the industrial city of Magnitogorsk, 1700km east of Moscow.

The only person found alive in the debris was a 10-month-old boy pulled from the wreckage on Tuesday.

He is being treated in Moscow for serious injuries and was described as being in a stable condition on Thursday.

The death toll has progressively risen in the past few days as rescuers battle blisteringly cold temperatures to recover people trapped under the rubble.

As of Thursday morning, the bodies of 22 of the 37 dead had been identified, officials say.

Gas explosions are relatively common in Russia because of ageing infrastructure and poor safety regulations surrounding gas use.


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Source: AAP



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