Nine killed in Ukraine blast

At least nine people were killed and up to 35 trapped under rubble after an explosion tore through a block of flats in southern Ukraine.

Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Igor Krol said the blast on Christmas Eve levelled part of the five-floor building in the city of Yevpatoriya, a Crimea peninsula resort.

Mr Krol said today a gas leak was the suspected cause, and 35 apartments were destroyed.

He said 19 people have been rescued, four of whom have been admitted to hospital.

Ukrainian state television pictures showed military rescuers searching for survivors among the mounds of concrete and glass.

A middle section of the building was missing, and apartments on either side had their walls torn down and were exposed.