Baby survives beating the odds
Russian rescuers yesterday pulled a baby boy alive from the ruins of an apartment block that collapsed in a gas explosion more than a day earlier, amid freezing temperatures.
"The rescuers heard crying. The baby was saved by being in a cradle and warmly wrapped up," Chelyabinsk regional governor Boris Dubrovsky wrote on his Telegram channel.
The baby boy aged 10 months was taken to hospital and is now being checked for fractures, a medic at the hospital where she is being treated told TASS news agency.
"The little boy is conscious. The prognosis is positive."
Part of the 10-storey appartment building collapsed following a gas explosion on Monday morning in the industrial city of Magnitogorsk, nearly 1,700 kilometres east of Moscow in the Ural mountains.
The baby was found after rescuers were forced to temporarily halt the search for dozens of missing people in the rubble for fear the rest of the block could come down.
The child survived temperatures that fell overnight to around minus 27 degrees celsius (minus 16 degrees Fahrenheit), TASS reported.
So far the incident has claimed at least seven lives and only six survivors have been found, including a 13-year-old boy. 37 people are unaccounted for.
The Soviet-era apartment block was home to around 1,100 people. The blast completely destroyed 35 flats while 10 more were damaged. Residents left homeless were evacuated to a nearby school.
The regional governor Boris Dubrovsky announced a day of mourning on January 2, with flags lowered and entertainment events cancelled, as the disaster toll set a sombre mood in Russia where New Year's Eve celebrations are the biggest annual festivities.
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