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The blast came from or near the ground floor
Rescuers in the central Russian city of Magnitogorsk are searching for survivors after an explosion devastated a block of flats, killing at least four people.
Officials in the city, in the Urals region, say a gas leak caused the blast. They say 68 people are missing.
The building was home to 120 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 -17C.
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Reuters
Just a handful of survivors have been found so far
Russia’s Vesti news channel says officials have accounted for 52 of the block’s residents, including the victims, but 68 are still missing. Few if any are expected to be pulled alive from the rubble.
Sixteen survivors have been evacuated from the scene, including seven children. Four injured people are in hospital, Vesti reports from the city.
The blast, at 06:02 local time (01:02 GMT) is thought to have ripped through the first floor, which houses some offices, and the seven storeys above then collapsed. Nearby flats were also damaged.
The city is about 1,695km (1,053 miles) east of Moscow.
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AFP
Rescuers are picking through a mountain of rubble
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Reuters
There are more flats on either side of the collapsed block