A suspected gas explosion in Kazakhstan’s southern city of Taraz has killed at least three people and partially destroyed an apartment building, authorities say.



Health and emergency officials in Taraz said the blast occurred in an apartment on the second floor in a five-story apartment block at around 6:20 a.m on February 27.



Three apartments from the first to the third floors were destroyed by the blast.





At least six people were injured, of whom three were in hospitals, and a total of 145 people were evacuated from the building, officials said.



According to preliminary assessments made by police, the explosion "was caused by misuse of natural-gas equipment."

Based on reporting by Tengrinews and Zakon.kz </s> At least three people have died and nearly 80 others are missing after a Russian apartment block partially collapsed following a gas explosion.

The blast took place in the city of Magnitogorsk, near to Russia's border with Kazakhstan, around 3am on Sunday.

Seventy-nine people remain unaccounted for at this stage, believed to be trapped in the rubble, while three others have been confirmed dead.

Rescue services at the scene are battling bone-chilling weather conditions, with temperatures as cold as -26C.

Emergency service workers are trying to evacuate trapped residents.

The cause of the gas explosion is not immediately known. </s> At least four people are dead and dozens missing after a suspected gas explosion ripped through an apartment building in southern Russia on Monday, state media reported.

Russia’s emergencies ministry told Tass news agency that four people had been pulled alive from the partly collapsed block in Magnitogorsk, an industrial city in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region near the border with Kazakhstan.

Sixty-eight residents were still missing from the high-rise, home to some 120 people, Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region Boris Dubrovsky said in a post on Telegram, according to Tass.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived at the scene of the deadly blast on Monday afternoon, as search and rescue efforts for people still trapped inside continued, state news channel Rossiya 24 reported. Over 400 emergency workers were sifting through the rubble.

The local branch of Russia’s Federal Security Service said the blast was believed to have been caused by a gas explosion.

Gas blasts have become a relatively common occurrence in Russia over recent years as the country struggles to cope with aging Soviet-era infrastructure and loose safety requirements, according to Reuters
A suspected gas explosion in Taraz, Kazakhstan, kills three people in an apartment block.