Death toll rises in Russia blast

A woman lays a carnation at the site of the collapsed appartment block in remembrance to the victims of the disaster in the Northern Russian town of Arkhangelsk, yesterday. An explosion apparently caused by a gas leak sheared off a part of a nine-story apartment bloc in this northern Russian city, killing at least 41 people, including five children. PHOTO: AFP

"Unfortunately, it is unlikely that survivors will be found but there is always hope," Yury Vorobyov of the emergencies ministry said in televised comments.

Meanwhile police continued their hunt for two homeless men who apparently caused the Monday morning explosion by allegedly removing bronze fittings from the gas pipe in order to peddle them off as scrap metal.

Tap Here to Add The Daily Star As A Trusted Source

"We have not yet arrested anyone linked to this particular crime. We have only rounded up people who appear to fit the description and some of them have been let go after questioning," local interior ministry chief Valery Lobanov told NTV television.

Rescuers on the scene said 42 bodies have been pulled from rubble and two people have died in hospital. At least a dozen people were believed to be still stranded under the slabs of concrete but no one knew the exact figure.

They said a search would have to be called off later in the day because of a growing threat that the remainder of the shattered nine-story building in this White Sea port may soon come crashing down.

The dawn hour explosion saw survivors run out into the freezing cold in their nightgowns. They have been given temporary residence in shelter homes but many have complained that they fear authorities will not provide them with adequate new housing.

The incident is the latest in a recent series of disasters to affect buildings across Russia, including a massive fire of a historic building next door to the Kremlin that killed two firefighters on election day Sunday and the collapse of a Moscow water park in February that caused 28 fatalities.