Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Egypt Sends Condolences to Russia Following Death of 37 Persons


Thu 03 Jan 2019 | 12:51 PM
Nawal Sayed

By Nawal Sayed

CAIRO, Jan. 3 (SEE) - Egypt expressed

sincere condolences to Russia following death of 37 persons at least and injury

of dozens owing to a building fall, according to an official statement released

Thursday by the foreign ministry.

"Egypt's

government and people support Russia in this sadly incident," the

statement added.

The Thirty-seven bodies were recovered from the

rubble of a Russian apartment building that partially collapsed this week

after an apparent gas explosion, Russian news agencies reported on

Thursday.

The blast in the early hours of December 31

damaged 48 apartments in a 10-storey building in the industrial city of

Magnitogorsk, some 1,700 km east of Moscow.

Russian Emergencies Ministry members take part in a search operation at the site of a partially collapsed apartment block in Magnitogorsk, Russia in this handout photo released by Russian Emergencies Ministry January 3, 2019. Russia's Ministry for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.

The death toll has progressively risen in the

past few days as rescuers battle blisteringly cold temperatures to recover

people trapped under the rubble.

Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes

major crimes, has said it is still investigating the exact cause of the blast. Gas

explosions are relatively common in Russia because of ageing

infrastructure and poor safety regulations surrounding gas use.