Explosion in Ukraine apartment building kills 27

THE death toll from an explosion that levelled an apartment building in southern Ukraine reached 27 yesterday as the country observed a day of national mourning, officials said.

The search for survivors continued after rescuers pulled 21 people alive from under the mounds of concrete and glass following Wednesday’s blast at the five-story building in the Crimean peninsula resort of Yevpatoriya. But officials do not know how many people could remain beneath the rubble and hold out little hope of finding any more alive as temperatures since the blast fell to -6C.

The entire central section of the building came down, exposing apartments on either side. Sixty-two people were registered inhabitants of the destroyed section of the apartment and rescuers paused their work hourly to listen for cries for help.

Yesterday was designated a day of national mourning in Ukraine, with entertainment events cancelled and flags lowered to half-mast.

Officials believe oxygen canisters in the building’s basement exploded, said Volodymyr Ivanov, a spokesman for Crimea’s branch of the Emergency Situations ministry.

Ivanov said one canister had been found by investigators, but other possible causes had not been ruled out, without elaborating.

Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko thanked Russia for offering to send naval personnel from Russia’s Black Sea fleet, stationed at the Ukrainian port city of Sevastopol, to help with the rescue, but said they were not needed.

Neglect of safety precautions has led to frequent explosions in apartment buildings in ex-Soviet nations.