Victims of gas blast in apt building in Moscow yet unidentified.

MOSCOW, November 22 (Itar-Tass) - Investigators still fail to identify
three people killed in a household gas explosion in an apartment building
in south-eastern Moscow last night.
"Three killed people still remain unidentified as their bodies were
badly damaged in the fire," the head of the Moscow investigative
department, Anatoly Bagmet, said on Saturday. He did not rule out that
genetic expertise would be necessary.
"Initially it was believed that one of them could be a salesman from
the shop where the blast occurred, but the salesman is alive. As the floor
deck caved in, it could be people living one storey higher," he said.
"The owner of the food store where the blast occurred has been
questioned. So far, there has been no expert's conclusion. It is known
that gas had accumulated in the premises. As there was no gas supply to
the store, possibly a gas cylinder exploded," Bagmet said.
A gas explosion followed by a fire took place last midnight in the
food store situated on the ground floor of a five-storey apartment
building in Yunykh Lenintsev Street. The floor deck collapsed and the fire
spread to apartments of the first, second and third floors.
Three people died and fourteen others, including four children, were
injured. The fire was put out only two-and-a-half hours after it started.
Eight people are still in hospital. Criminal proceedings have been
instituted.
-0-zhe/