VIDEO: Explosion in Residential Building in Sakhalin, Casualties Continue to Rise

In the Timovskoye urban-type settlement of Sakhalin, a residential building was affected by an explosion of domestic gas, resulting in nine injuries and seven fatalities, reported by the regional emergency services to RIA Novosti.

The Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation announced that preliminary data indicates an explosion of domestic gas in a five-story residential building in Sakhalin, where the fifth through first floors have collapsed, and people may be trapped under the rubble.

The explosion occurred on the fourth floor of the first entrance of a building constructed in the 1970s.

As a result of the emergency incident, the ceilings of the corner entrance of the building partially collapsed, and cleanup operations are underway. An emergency response aircraft is expected to arrive from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, as well as a helicopter from the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry.

Rescue teams have retrieved the bodies of seven deceased residents, three of whom are children, according to reports from RIA Novosti.

Specialists have begun dismantling the debris, with 10 pieces of equipment and 30 personnel currently working at the site.