Four apartments razed, 16 damaged in Shakhty apartment house - mayor
SHAKHTY/ROSTOV-ON-DON. Jan 15 (Interfax) - Shakhty Mayor Andrei Kovalyov has called for mourning for victims of the gas explosion at the apartment house on Wednesday.
"Sixteen apartments have been damaged, and four have been razed. Two people are dead, and two are injured. Twenty-eight people are staying at a hotel. These are 12 families, including two children. The rest are staying with their kin. I propose that we have a day of mourning in Shakhty tomorrow," Kovalyov said in a videoconference with the Rostov governor.
Tenants of the damaged apartment house have filed 79 applications for assistance, Kovalyov said.
He told the press before that the precise number of damaged apartments would be known after a complete examination of the building.
It was reported earlier that rescuers had to reconsider the debris cleanup sequence due to the risk of a wall collapse. Dangerous structures were removed over the night, and rescuers resumed the cleanup after that.
Gas exploded in the apartment house in Shakhty, Rostov region, on Monday morning. According to the latest update, seven tenants were rescued and two died. Three people are missing.