A gas blast that hit an apartment building in the Russian city of Magnitogorsk has left over 400 people in need of new homes, the Chelyabinsk region's social relations minister, Tatiana Nikitina, said Saturday.
MAGNITOGORSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th January, 2019) A gas blast that hit an apartment building in the Russian city of Magnitogorsk has left over 400 people in need of new homes, the Chelyabinsk region's social relations minister, Tatiana Nikitina, said Saturday.The explosion led to collapse of a part of the 10-storey building on New Year's Eve, killing at least 39 people. Nikitina told reporters at a briefing that two more sections would be torn down.
"Taking into account unregistered residents, our tentative evaluation is that approximately 403 people [are left homeless]," she said.
Authorities have been renting housing for them with donated money, the minister added. They are looking for options to resettle residents of the two sections that will be demolished.
Magnitogorsk Mayor Sergei Berdnikov told reporters that residents living in the apartments adjacent to those two sections would be temporarily sheltered until the building is declared safe.
Condolences poured from all over the world in response to the tragedy. On Saturday, Jordanian King Abdullah II became the latest world leader to express his sympathies to Russians.
"His Majesty condoles President of Russia Vladimir Putin over the victims of the building collapse in the city of Magnitogorsk, caused by a gas explosion," the message on his court's official Twitter page read.
The natural gas blast remains the most likely cause of the deadly collapse after the Investigative Committee said no traces of explosives had been found. The four injured - three adults and a child - are in stable condition.
