Official: 9 dead in Ukraine apartment gas blast

An emergency official says at least nine people have died and up to 35 are trapped under rubble after an explosion tore through an apartment building in southern Ukraine.

Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Igor Krol says the Wednesday evening blast leveled part of the five-floor building in the city of Yevpatoriya, a Crimea peninsula resort.

Krol said Thursday a gas leak was the suspected cause, and 35 apartments were destroyed. He said 19 people have been rescued, four of whom have been hospitalized.

Ukrainian state television pictures showed military rescuers searching for survivors among the mounds of concrete and glass. A middle section of the building was missing, and apartments on either side had their walls torn down and were exposed.