Two sought in Russia building blast (Agencies) Updated: 2004-03-17 09:44
Police searched for two homeless scavengers who
apparently stole bronze fittings from gas pipes and triggered an explosion at an
apartment building Tuesday that killed at least 32 people, authorities said.
The blast sheared off a section of the nine-story prefabricated apartment
building in this White Sea port about 600 miles north of Moscow.
Rescuers work in the debris of the
destroyed section of a nine-story apartment building in the northern
Russian city of Arkhangelsk, Tuesday March 16, 2004.
[AP]
Two dozen people were rescued from the
rubble, said Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Irina Andriyanova.
Search crews clambered over the wreckage, using power saws to cut through
piles of building materials as cranes lifted the biggest beams and panels.
Rescuers were working through the night, saying they still held out hope of
finding people alive.
Alexei Kalinin, deputy to the top regional emergency official, said 32 people
— including five children — were confirmed dead. The ITAR-Tass news agency later
carried a report of a 33rd death.
Prosecutors opened a criminal investigation.
Authorities were searching for two men, said Igor Avtushko, a spokesman for
the regional Interior Ministry.
The men allegedly were carrying metal pipes and tools, and police believed
they had opened the gas valves in order to steal the bronze fittings that seal
them.
Avtushko said authorities found fixtures missing in two neighboring buildings
but crews were able to fix the gas leaks in time.
"These damned vagabonds unscrewed these valves a hundred times in the past,
but then it didn't lead to explosions," said Andrei Seleznyov, 52, who lives in
a neighboring building. He added that they had been systematically stealing the
hardware.
Thieves pilfer power lines, municipal facilities and industrial equipment
throughout Russia in search for copper, bronze and other metals to sell for
scrap.
In addition, neglect of safety precautions has led to frequent gas explosions
in Russian apartment buildings and public facilities.
Authorities earlier had feared sabotage or terrorism, even though the first
emergency crews to respond reported a strong odor of gas. Tension is high in
Russia after a series of terrorist attacks blamed on Chechen rebels. In 1999,
explosions blamed on rebels ripped through apartment buildings in Moscow and two
other cities, killing about 300 people.
Tuesday's blast hit at 3:25 a.m. local time, when most residents of the
building were in bed.
"We were awakened by a terrible noise," a 40-year-old man who identified
himself as Igor and 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."
"Through a pillar of dust I saw the street, just our street instead of the
wall," he said. He described hearing "heartbreaking cries."
Vadim and Anna Kurochkin were awake in their ninth-floor apartment when the
blast occurred and they were thrown out on their sofa, landing safely with no
injuries.
Their 9-year old son, Artyom, was on the balcony, which miraculously didn't
collapse, and he was rescued by firefighters, Irina Budnik, a spokeswoman for
the local fire brigade told Pravda Severa.
Building residents had reported smelling gas to the local emergency gas
service before the explosion, but that its workers didn't come until the blast
occurred, NTV television said.
Rescue crews and equipment were dispatched by air from Moscow and northern
Karelia to help in the search.
