Kiev blast that devastated residential building may have been caused by gas leak or BOMB – minister

A deadly explosion in Kiev, which tore through several apartments in a building, may have been caused by an explosive device, Ukraine’s interior minister has said. The blast killed at least three people.

Kiev police are working to determine whether the powerful explosion, which happened on Sunday morning at around 10am local time, was caused by a gas leak or a bomb, Arsen Avakov said.

The ministry has deployed 420 employees to the scene of the explosion, located in the southeast of the Ukrainian capital. That number includes rescue workers, firefighters, police officers and others.

The blast originated in one of the apartments of the nine-story building and caused significant damage, with a stack of four apartments caving in. Rescuers found two people dead under the rubble and rescued three others alive. 21 residents were evacuated from the building in the wake of the emergency.

Later in the day, the body of a third victim was recovered from beneath the debris.

The gas leak explanation has been deemed more likely by the emergency services. Residents told media outlets that the gas meters had been replaced throughout the building just one week prior to the explosion.

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