Gas blast death toll rises

The death toll in yesterday's apartment explosion in the northern city of Arkhangelsk rose to 44, according to the Civil Defense and Emergencies Situations Department of the Arkhangelsk region. Two more bodies - of a man and a woman - were pulled from the rubble, and another woman died in hospital. Twelve people who were injured in the gas explosion are being treated in the hospitals of the city; five of them are in a critical condition.