Russian investigators deny explosives caused building blast that killed 39 in Magnitogorsk

Russian investigators say gas leak most likely cause despite claims of ‘terrorist act’ in Magnitogorsk

Website claims investigators discovered blast originated in flat where man stored explosives for planned attack on local shopping centre

2-MIN READ2-MIN

A general view shows a partially collapsed apartment block in Magnitogorsk, Russia January 1, 2019. Picture taken January 1, 2019. REUTERS/Andrey Serebryakov

Published: 11:44am, 3 Jan 2019Updated: 10:42pm, 3 Jan 2019

Russian investigators have denied reports that traces of explosives were found in the rubble of a residential building that was partially destroyed by a powerful blast on New Year’s Eve, but insisted they are considering “all possible causes”.

At least 39 people were killed when an explosion tore through a 10-storey building in Magnitogorsk, an industrial city in Russia’s Ural region, about 6am on Monday. At least four people were believed to be missing.

An 11-month-old boy who brought a burst of hope when he was discovered alive Tuesday, nearly 36 hours after the collapse, was in serious but stable condition at a Moscow children’s hospital after travelling about 1,400km in a plane dispatched by the Russian Health Ministry.

A cat was pulled alive from the wreckage on Wednesday, about 60 hours after the disaster.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, a law enforcement agency that answers to the country’s president, Vladimir Putin, said a gas leak was the most likely explanation for the blast, which occurred on the city’s Karl Marx Avenue.

The znak.com website cited an unnamed source who said the explosion was a “terrorist act”.

The source, whose comments could not be independently verified, said investigators had discovered the blast originated in a second-floor flat, where an unknown man was suspected to have stored explosives for a planned attack on a local shopping centre.

The man was reported to have moved into the flat, which he was renting, on December 30. Znak.com is a respected news website which has previously reported on the deaths of Russian military contractors in Syria.