Search of Russian building ends with 39 dead, 1 survivor
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Russian officials ended the search of a collapsed apartment building Thursday and said the rescue crews that raced through concrete rubble found 39 people dead and one survivor in the three-and-a-half days since part of the structure came down while residents slept.
Officials think an explosion triggered by a gas leak caused the pre-dawn collapse Monday in the city of Magnitogorsk. A 10-month-old boy was the only person found alive in the wreckage. The baby suffered frostbite from lying in the rubble for 35 hours - temperatures were as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 F.)
The number of deaths stood at four for most of the first day, but climbed quickly after two nights of winter weather. Russian authorities acknowledged from the start that the extreme cold gave rescue crews less time to reach trapped survivors.
