Natural Gas Explosion Accident In Russian Apartment Building Kills 7

By Jenn Loro - 17 Feb '16 08:07AM

A natural gas explosion in a central Russian city blew up a five-story apartment complex which left 7 people dead including two children possibly aged 6 and 11, nine injured, and several others trapped as the Russian emergency services struggle to get more survivors out of harm's way.

According to a report by Daily Mail, the blast occurred in the city of Yaroslavl 160 miles northeast of the Russian capital of Moscow just before dawn on Tuesday leaving a trail of destruction- 5 apartment units were reduced to rubble and 20 more damaged.

"Gas exploded in a five story residential building, the structure caved in from the first to the fifth floor," a representative from the emergency ministry said as quoted by RT News.

Rescuers were immediately deployed by emergency services and evacuated about 130 people according to a Yahoo News report. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the explosion.

Currently, nearly 200 rescuers and fire crews are in a race against time to pull out those trapped under the wreckage. The government used more than 50 different types of equipment to help the ongoing search and rescue effort. In addition, two rescue helicopters with medical modules were deployed to Yaroslavl to pull out the injured.

Most, if not all, Russians use natural gas for cooking owing to the country's vast energy resources.

Meanwhile, EU energy regulatory agency proposed tougher oversight of natural gas deals with Russia in an effort to reduce Europe's natural gas dependence on Moscow and boost the 28-nation bloc's energy security. Currently, Russia supplies 27% of EU-consumed gas which makes Europe vulnerable to global and regional disruptions such as the crisis in Ukraine.

"...We know how much such a crisis can have a direct impact on security of energy supply here in Europe. Such threats to our energy supply come on top of existing vulnerability of certain European countries. I'm glad that we have managed to put on the table a very solid package to address these challenges," remarked EU commission vice president for energy union Maros Sefcovic as mentioned in a report by Bloomberg news.