Russian high-level committee takes over investigation of explosion in Magnitogorsk
Svetlana Petrenko, the Official Representative of the Russian Office for the Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Committee of Russia stated that the committee would investigate the causes and circumstances of the recent explosion in Magnitogorsk that destroyed a block of apartments and killed at least 21 people.
Petrenko said that witnesses are now being questioned. According to her, investigators seized documents that could clarify the situation, Echo of Moscow reported.
The explosion on December 31 sent a portion of a ten-story building crashing to the ground. Russian agencies reported that 5 injured people were hospitalized, among them a 13-year-old teenager. 21 people were confirmed dead while the fate of another 20 people remains unknown.
On January 1, it was reported that the rescue team found an 11-month-old baby who spent more than 24 hours under the debris of a partially destroyed house. The Governor of Chelyabinsk, Boris Dubrovsky said that the baby was saved because it was bundled up warmly in its crib. The representative of the Ministry of Emergency Situations told TASS: "The baby's mother is alive. She came to the hospital and recognized her son.” The infant is currently in poor condition.
In the school not far from the house, the staff for working with population was organized. The territory around the place of rescue operations is cordoned off.