Death toll in Ukraine apartment blast rises to 27

The death toll in a blast that ripped through a five-storey apartment block in southern Ukraine has risen to 27 people, the emergency ministry said on Friday.

The suspected gas explosion on Wednesday flattened all five floors of the block in the Black Sea resort of Yevpatoria, leaving huge piles of rubble.

A family of five was among the dead, the ministry said. Rescuers pulled out 21 survivors from the debris of concrete, wires and smashed furniture.

A local ministry official said the chances of finding survivors or bodies were now slim as rescuers picked their way through all the floors in the rubble and reached the basement.

Gas explosions in often crumbling apartment buildings are common in former Soviet republics, particularly in winter when residents use more heating. One such blast last year killed 15 residents in the central city of Dnipropetrovsk.