37 dead in Russian building collaps

The number of fatalities in the residential building collapse in Magnitogorsk in southern Russia is  currently 37, according to authorities. Among the dead are six children, and four people are still missing.



It was early on Monday that a part of a ten floor residential building collapsed.



The search & rescue efforts have continued around the clock in the biting cold, with a constant threat that several parts of the house will collapse. In total, six people have been saved and four people are still missing.



The death toll has increased steadily since the accident on New Year's Eve, but no survivors have been found since Tuesday, when a ten-month-old boy was rescued from the rubble.



The building belongs to an apartment complex where a total of about 1 100 people live. It is suspected that a gas explosion caused the collapse, but the investigation is still ongoing. No traces of explosives have been found on the site.



Natural gas explosions are relatively common in Russia, where much of the infrastructure, like this one in Magnitogorsk, was built during the Soviet era.