By DMITRY LOVETSKY, Associated Press Writer
ARKHANGELSK, Russia - An apparent natural gas explosion sheared off part of a nine-story apartment building in the northern Russian city of Arkhangelsk as residents slep early Tuesday, killing at least 23 people, including three children. About 20 were missing.
Police blamed two homeless men who allegedly removed bronze fittings from gas pipes to sell them.
Igor Avtushko, spokesman for the regional Interior Ministry, said authorities were searching for two men seen by neighbors. The men allegedly were carrying metal pipes and tools. He said authorities found the seals missing in two neighboring buildings, but crews fixed the gas leaks.
Earlier authorities feared sabotage or terrorism because of heightened tension in Russia after a series of attacks blamed on Chechen rebels. In fall 1999, explosions blamed on rebels ripped through apartment buildings in Moscow and two other cities, killing some 300 people.
But a gas leak was seen as the most likely cause, emergency workers said, after firefighters reported a strong odor of gas and gas employees said leaks had been reported in other buildings overnight in Arkhangelsk, about 600 miles north of Moscow. No explosive devices were found, said Natalya Ozhigina, a spokeswoman for the regional Federal Security Service agency, told ITAR-Tass.
Tuesday's blast hit at 3:25 a.m. local time, when most of the 80 residents registered in the building in Arkhangelsk would have been in bed, Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Marina Ryklina said.
Deputy Emergency Situations Minister Yuri Vorobyov told Russia's NTV television at the scene that 22 bodies had been recovered by afternoon and that rescuers found another victim but had not yet been able to recover the body. He said 24 people had been pulled from the debris alive.
"We were awakened by a terrible noise," Igor, 40, who lives in the adjoining section of the apartment building, told Arkhangelsk's Pravda Severa newspaper. "The wall of our bedroom came crashing down on the bed. ... We were in a state of shock."
The explosion destroyed a whole section of the building, leaving huge chunks of debris.
Russian TV showed footage of rescue crews clambering over the wreckage, using power saws to cut through piles of building materials as cranes lifted off the biggest beams.
The Emergency Situations Ministry dispatched an Il-76 cargo plane from Moscow with more rescue workers and equipment.
"The base version is a natural gas explosion," Vladimir Lobanov, a regional official, told state television. He said gas officials were checking all buildings in the area. Citing an unidentified gas worker, ITAR-Tass reported that overnight repair teams had to fix gas leaks in two neighboring buildings after discovering "plugs unscrewed from the gas pipes" — hinting at possible sabotage.
Lobanov added, however, that the investigation was continuing.
There were 36 apartments in the affected section of the building, which Russian state television reported housed many military veterans and employees of the local Interior Ministry.
Neglect of safety precautions has led to frequent gas explosions in Russian apartment buildings and public facilities.