The death toll from the deadly collapse of a residential building in the city of Magnitogorsk, located in Russia's Ural Federal District, has grown to 37 people, a spokesperson of the Russian Emergencies Ministry told Sputnik on Thursday, Trend reported citing Sputnik.
The tragedy in Magnitogorsk took place on Monday when what authorities suggested was a natural gas leak tore through a bloc of the 10-storey building, leaving dozens of apartments destroyed and damaged.
22:15 (GMT+4) The death toll in a building collapse in the Russian city of Magnitogorsk rose to 27 people as bodies of several more victims were recovered from under the rubble, the press service of the Russian Emergencies Ministry told Sputnik, Trend reported.
As Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region Boris Dubrovsky specified in his Telegram channel, three of those found dead are children.
Shortly before that, a representative of the regional office of the Russian Emergencies Ministry told reporters that the bodies of 19 victims had been identified, adding that it was so far impossible to assume in what part of the rubble other bodies might be found.
According to the latest data from the Russian Emergencies Ministry, rescuers dismantled a wall of the collapsed block of the building because of a threat of further collapse. Rescue work continues but is being hindered by the risk of debris collapsing.
"One of the walls of the destroyed building, which posed the greatest threat to rescue units, was dismantled (from the third to the sixth floor)," the statement said.
The rescuers have also built a soil embankment to continue the work on higher floors of the collapsed block.
The tragedy took place shortly before the New Year, on December 31, when a natural gas blast hit one of the blocks of a 10-storey residential building in Magnitogorsk, destroying and damaging scores of apartments.