Gas explodes in Moscow apartment building, where US embassy officials live

Photo: AP photo

Household gas exploded in a residential building on Kutuzovsky Avenue in Moscow (Kutuzovsky Avenue,14). According to police, gas exploded in an apartment on the third floor of the nine-storyed building. Floors collapsed between the fourth and the third levels. An explosive wave shattered windows on three floors. A fire broke out after the explosion, but firefighters extinguished it quickly.

A woman was injured in the explosion, she was flown to hospital by helicopter. The woman is a U.S. citizen, ITAR-TASS reported.

The danger for the building to collapse still remains. The head of the press service of the Moscow EMERCOM, Viktor Biryukov, said that a wall of the building cracked; tenants are being evacuated.

According to a source at law enforcement agencies, there were employees of the U.S. Embassy among the tenants of the building. The building also housed an office of Al Jazeera International Limited. In addition, the building was a location for Municipal Polyclinic 57, a few bars, the Center for Social Assistance to Families and Children and several shops.