Explosion in Kyiv Apartment Block: At Least One Dead, Three Rescued from Rubble

Five floors damaged.

A nine-storey residential building on Solomiya Krushelnytska Street in Kyiv's Darnytskyi district was hit by an explosion. According to a preliminary version, the cause was a gas leak.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) said on Facebook that floors four to eight were damaged. The SES reports that as of 14:00 one dead has been found, an elderly woman. Earlier, the capital's mayor Vitali Klitschko claimed that 2 people had died. 21 people were evacuated.

75 emergency workers and 15 pieces of equipment have been brought in to deal with the aftermath. Police, firefighters, rescuers, the National Guard and municipal security service representatives are working at the scene. The rescue site has been cordoned off, and traces of the blast can be seen as far as 40 metres from the building. Traffic on Hryhorenko Avenue has been halted.

As a TK Media correspondent reports from the scene, there is also significant damage on the back of the building, and on the side, next to the neighbouring block, the blast created a hole. Judging by the damage, the epicentre of the explosion was on the seventh floor.

The smell of gas is still noticeable on the street. The emergency service is shutting off the gas supply to prevent another explosion during rescue work. According to rescuers, three apartments are buried and the situation inside them is dangerous.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko and Interior Minister Arsen Avakov arrived at the scene. Residents were told they will be temporarily relocated to a hostel on Kharkivske Highway.

Yesterday a video appeared showing quarantine being violated again in Kyiv at one of the restaurants of People's Deputy Mykola Tishchenko from the Servant of the People party.