KYIV (AP) – An early morning explosion damaged at least two floors of an apartment building in eastern Ukraine on Monday, injuring at least two people and triggering a search for more victims in the wreckage.
The cause of the explosion, which occurred round 4 a.m. (0200GMT) in the five-story building in the city of Krivy Rih in the Dnipropetrovsk region, was under investigation, said Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Ihor Krol.
He said that the explosion appeared to have damaged five or six apartments on the fourth and fifth floors.
Ukraine’s Interfax news agency reported that two people were hospitalized. Krol said the search for victims continued, with dozens of rescuers participating.
Gas explosions are common in Ukraine, where most apartments use natural gas for cooking and leaks are frequent in the country’s aging infrastructure.
