Death toll rises to 21 in Russia apartment collapse
Russian emergency officials say the death toll in the collapse of an apartment building has risen to 21 after the recovery of two more bodies from the rubble.
The discovery of the bodies Wednesday afternoon leaves 20 residents of the building in the Russian city of Magnitogorsk still unaccounted for. Prospects of finding anyone alive in the rubble have diminished sharply after two nights of harsh cold, with overnight temperatures as low as 4 degrees below 0.
A section of the 10-story building collapsed Monday following an explosion believed to have been due to a gas leak.
An 11-month-old boy who was pulled alive from the wreckage Tuesday nearly 36 hours after the building collapsed was in serious but stable condition in a children’s hospital in Moscow. He was flown about 870 miles to the capital in a plane dispatched by the Health Ministry.
Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said Wednesday the boy suffered superficial head wounds but no apparent brain damage.
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