Several residents and rescue workers were killed when a gas explosion ripped through a late Soviet-era apartment building outside Moscow, authorities and state media reported Wednesday.
Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said first responders arrived soon after being alerted in the early morning of an incident in the suburb of Balashikha, northeast of Moscow.
Footage shared by the ministry shows a gaping hole in the facade of the nine-story building’s third, fourth and fifth floors.
Rescue crews were seen digging through the rubble before a second partial collapse was reported.
Two rescuers were killed and four others injured in the second collapse, the ministry said in the afternoon.
In total, rescue services have retrieved the bodies of four residents, an anonymous emergency source told Interfax.
At least 170 residents were evacuated from the building.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, launched an investigation into safety violations and carried out searches at the utility company that provided gas to the building.
Gas explosions are common in Russia and often affect residential buildings built in the Soviet era.
The damaged apartment building was built in 1979, with major repairs next scheduled for 2025, according to TASS.
