Russian apartment collapse death toll hits 21

MOSCOW (AP): Russian emergency officials say the death toll in the collapse of an apartment building has risen to 21 after the recovery of two more bodies from the rubble. The discovery of the bodies on Wednesday afternoon leaves 20 residents of the building in the Russian city of Magnitogorsk still unaccounted for. Prospects of finding anyone alive in the rubble have diminished sharply after two nights of harsh cold, with overnight temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit).

A section of the 10-story building collapsed on Monday following an explosion believed to have been due to a gas leak. Search crews have pulled more bodies from a huge pile of rubble at a collapsed Russian apartment building, bringing the known death toll to 19. The bodies found on Wednesday in Magnitogorsk included a 3-year-old girl, Russian news agencies cited the emergencies ministry as saying.

An 11-month-old boy who was pulled alive from the wreckage on Tuesday nearly 36 hours after the building collapsed was in serious but stable condition in a children’s hospital in Moscow. He was flown about 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) to the capital in a plane dispatched by the Health Ministry. Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said Wednesday the boy suffered superficial head wounds but no apparent brain damage. More than 20 people who lived in the building remain unaccounted for, including five children.