Smoke rises from a residential building following an explosion in Novosibirsk on February 9.
An explosion in a residential building in Russia's Siberian city of Novosibirsk has killed at least five people. The region’s Health Ministry said a 2-year-old child was among those killed in the explosion, which occurred on February 9. City authorities said the explosion was caused by a gas leak and destroyed 30 apartments in a five-story building. Gas explosions frequently occur across the former Soviet Union due to aging pipelines and infrastructure, as well as lax safety standards. Two days earlier, a gas explosion in Russia's western region of Tula killed at least eight people. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here .
