A massive explosion on Wednesday night blew an apartment block off a 5-storied building in Yevpatoria, Crimea, killing 27 people, including three children and entire families, one of them of five people. (as of Friday morning)
A group of 6-7 children believed to be trapped in the basement used cell phones to call their parents.
Almost 300 rescue workers are working around the clock.
The cause of the accident may have been oxygen tanks stored in the basement.
The rising death toll puts the tragedy in Yevpatoria next to last year's gas blast in Dnipropetrovsk.
PM Tymoshenko has pledged full government support to the victims and their families.
According to Channel 1+1 reporters, investigators retrieved a tank from the basement and, forbidding the reporters to film it, whisked it off the scene.
December 26 will be a day of mourning in Ukraine.
Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2008/12/26/86839.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2008/12/25/86832.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2008/12/25/86787.htm
http://5.ua/newsline/230//56232/
http://www.unian.net/ukr/news/news-292069.html
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2008/12/25/86775.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2008/12/25/86773.htm
Video uploaded from: http://5.ua/newsline/230//56232/
Photos courtesy of:
http://forum.planar.bz
http://forum.evpanet.com
http://www.nr2.ru/crimea/213891.html
Thursday, December 25, 2008
27 Dead in Apartment Blast in Yevpatoria, Crimea (Updated)
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6 comments:
Jesus freaking Christ. What a New Year's gift...
And what a déjà vu...
I'll bet you a thousand dollars that nobody is going to jail.
So how long before we have another one?
Why would oxygen tanks be stored in the basement of a block of flats? When a car workshop caught fire with oxygen on the premises near my cousin's house all the homes nearby had to be evacuated. Terrible. I hope those kids are rescued safely.
Thank you for commenting, Owen!
In Ukraine, high-rise basements often house illegal workshops and warehouses, an arrangement that puts residents on a powder keg. Local authorities and fire department inspectors couldn’t care less.
Bottom line, some people profit and others perish.
Local authorities and fire safety inspectorates weren't originally conceived of as being job creation schemes. Someone should pay very heavily for closing their eyes.
Can't agree more with you, Owen!
Unless the public holds the perpetrators of these corrupt schemes responsible, there will be no end to the death toll.
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