Rescuers in the central Russian city of Magnitogorsk are searching for survivors after an explosion devastated a block of flats, killing at least three people.

Officials in the city, in the Urals region, say a gas leak caused the blast. They say 79 people are missing.

The building was home to 110 people, and 48 flats collapsed in the blast.

It is a race against time to find survivors, as the temperature in the industrial city is -15C. </s> At least three people have died and nearly 80 others are missing after a Russian apartment block partially collapsed following a gas explosion.

The blast took place in the city of Magnitogorsk, near to Russia's border with Kazakhstan, around 3am on Sunday.

Seventy-nine people remain unaccounted for at this stage, believed to be trapped in the rubble, while three others have been confirmed dead.

Rescue services at the scene are battling bone-chilling weather conditions, with temperatures as cold as -26C.

Emergency service workers are trying to evacuate trapped residents.

The cause of the gas explosion is not immediately known. </s> MOSCOW - Twenty-eight bodies have been recovered from the debris of an apartment block in Russia that partially collapsed in an apparent explosion, while 13 people remained unaccounted for, the regional emergencies ministry said on Wednesday.

The blast initially thought to have been caused by a gas leak, damaged 48 apartments in a 10-storey building in the industrial city of Magnitogorsk in the early hours on Monday, 1,700 km east of Moscow.

A baby boy was found alive on Tuesday after 35 hours spent in freezing cold in the rubble, in what emergency officials described as a miracle.

The emergencies ministry said more than 900 people were carrying out the search and rescue operation at the site. It said six people have been rescued.

The reason behind the collapse of the apartment block is still being investigated, the Investigative Committee, which probes into major cries, said on its website.

It said no trace of explosives materials had been found so far on the site. The initial reports put a possible gas leak behind the collapse.

There have been several similar incidents in the country in recent years due to ageing infrastructure and poor safety regulations about gas usage.

In a separate incident in the same street late on Tuesday, three people died when a minibus became engulfed in flames, TASS news agency reported citing the local government office.

Video footage purporting to show the incident, posted on social media sites, shows a burning vehicle and some bangs are heard. A police spokesman declined to comment when contacted by phone. </s> Moscow - Eighteen bodies have been recovered from the debris of an apartment block in Russia that partially collapsed in an apparent explosion, while 23 people remained unaccounted for, the regional emergencies ministry told Reuters on Wednesday. The blast, initially thought to have been caused by a gas leak, damaged 48 apartments in a 10-storey building in the industrial city of Magnitogorsk in the early hours on Monday, 1 700 km (1 050 miles) east of Moscow.

A baby boy was found alive on Tuesday after 35 hours spent in freezing cold in the rubble, in what emergency officials described as a miracle.

The reason behind the collapse of the apartment block is still being investigated, the Investigative Committee, which probes into major cries, said on its website.

It said no trace of explosives materials had been found so far on the site. The initial reports put a possible gas leak behind the collapse.

There have been several similar incidents in the country in recent years due to ageing infrastructure and poor safety regulations about gas usage. </s> At least four people are dead and dozens missing after a suspected gas explosion ripped through an apartment building in southern Russia on Monday, state media reported.

Russia’s emergencies ministry told Tass news agency that four people had been pulled alive from the partly collapsed block in Magnitogorsk, an industrial city in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region near the border with Kazakhstan.

Sixty-eight residents were still missing from the high-rise, home to some 120 people, Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region Boris Dubrovsky said in a post on Telegram, according to Tass.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived at the scene of the deadly blast on Monday afternoon, as search and rescue efforts for people still trapped inside continued, state news channel Rossiya 24 reported. Over 400 emergency workers were sifting through the rubble.

The local branch of Russia’s Federal Security Service said the blast was believed to have been caused by a gas explosion.

Gas blasts have become a relatively common occurrence in Russia over recent years as the country struggles to cope with aging Soviet-era infrastructure and loose safety requirements, according to Reuters </s> According to the Russian Emergency Service press service, ten people were rescued from under the rubble and two died after gas exploded in a block of flats in the Russian city of Magnitogorsk in the Ural Mountains.

The explosion occurred at around 1:00 a.m. GMT on Monday. Sixteen people have been evacuated from the building. Health authorities told Sputnik that one person had been hospitalized.

The governor of the Chelyabinsk region, Boris Dubrovsky, is on the way to the scene of the tragedy, his press office said. </s> MOSCOW: Russian rescuers were on Monday searching for people still trapped under the rubble of a city apartment block that partly collapsed in a suspected gas blast, killing at least three, RIA said.

Russia's emergencies ministry told the news agency that four people had been recovered alive from the nine-storey building in Magnitogorsk, an industrial city some 1,700 km (1,050 miles) east of Moscow in the southern Urals.

News agency TASS said 79 people were unaccounted for, quoting Chelyabinsk regional Deputy Governor Oleg Klimov.

The emergencies ministry said the blast, probably caused by a gas leak, damaged 48 apartments.

RIA said it ripped through the building at around 0600 a.m. (0100 GMT) when many residents were asleep. Monday is a public holiday in Russia.

There have been several similar incidents in Russia in recent years due to ageing infrastructure and poor safety regulations surrounding gas usage.

In 2015, at least five people were killed when a gas explosion damaged an apartment building in the southern Russian city of Volgograd. </s> At least four people were killed and dozens of others remained unaccounted for early Monday after a suspected gas explosion ripped through a 10-story residential building in the Russian city of Magnitogorsk.

The apartment block partially collapsed after the blast, which occurred as many of the residents were sleeping at around 6 a.m. local time (8 p.m. ET Sunday).

Rescuers were searching for people trapped under the rubble.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry said 48 apartments were damaged after seven stories of a building collapsed.

Just 52 people out of the 120 people who lived in the collapsed block had been accounted for, Russian news agency TASS reported on Monday, quoting regional Gov. Boris Dubrovsky.

Local officials also warned that two adjacent buildings could be at risk of collapsing.

Magnitogorsk is located 1,050 miles east of Moscow in the southern Urals. </s> Rescuers scrambled amid freezing temperatures to recover people trapped in the rubble of a Russian city apartment block that collapsed in a gas explosion on Monday, killing at least four people and leaving dozens missing, news agencies reported.

MOSCOW: Rescuers scrambled amid freezing temperatures to recover people trapped in the rubble of a Russian city apartment block that collapsed in a gas explosion on Monday, killing at least four people and leaving dozens missing, news agencies reported.

The blast, thought to have been caused by a gas leak, damaged 48 apartments in a nine-storey building in Magnitogorsk, an industrial city in the Urals some 1,700 km (1,050 miles) east of Moscow, the emergencies ministry said.

"Four people have been killed, five are in hospital ... and the fate of 35 is unknown," Russian news agencies quoted the emergencies ministry as saying.

President Vladimir Putin flew into Magnitogorsk late on Monday afternoon, the Kremlin said, as rescue workers toiled in temperatures of - 22 Celsius (- 7.6 Fahrenheit) to locate people trapped in the debris.

Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova told state television that the chances of finding survivors were diminishing as the day wore on.

RIA news agency reported that the blast tore through the building at around 0600 a.m. (0100 GMT) when many residents were asleep. Monday was a public holiday in Russia.

There have been several similar incidents in Russia in recent years due to ageing infrastructure and poor safety regulations surrounding gas usage.

In 2015, at least five people were killed when a gas explosion damaged an apartment building in the southern Russian city of Volgograd.
An explosion caused by a gas leak devastated a block of flats in Magnitogorsk, Russia, killing 14 people while 27 others are missing.