KIEV: Several floors collapsed in an explosion Monday at a hospital in Ukraine's eastern city of Lugansk that killed at least two people, the office of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said.
"As a result of a violation of security rules in the intensive care unit of hospital number seven of Lugansk, oxygen canisters exploded," it said in a statement.
"Several floors of the hospital collapsed," it said, adding that Tymoshenko was flying to the scene.
Two corpses have already been found, Marina Proshycheva, an official with the local branch of the emergency situations ministry, said.
The health ministry said in a statement that 261 patients and 350 medical personnel were in the hospital at the time of the blast. It said seven people had so far been rescued from the rubble.
Local Internet newspaper Vostochny Variant said the third and fourth floors of the building had collapsed onto the second.
Lax adherence to safety rules makes such disasters relatively frequent in Ukraine and the former Soviet Union.
"As a result of a violation of security rules in the intensive care unit of hospital number seven of Lugansk, oxygen canisters exploded," it said in a statement.
"Several floors of the hospital collapsed," it said, adding that Tymoshenko was flying to the scene.
Two corpses have already been found, Marina Proshycheva, an official with the local branch of the emergency situations ministry, said.
The health ministry said in a statement that 261 patients and 350 medical personnel were in the hospital at the time of the blast. It said seven people had so far been rescued from the rubble.
Local Internet newspaper Vostochny Variant said the third and fourth floors of the building had collapsed onto the second.
Lax adherence to safety rules makes such disasters relatively frequent in Ukraine and the former Soviet Union.
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