Eight missing in Ukrainian blast, 14 dead

KIEV, Oct 15 (Reuters) Emergency workers were today searching for eight people still missing after a gas explosion flattened part of an apartment building in central Ukraine, as the confirmed death toll climbed to 14.

''We will, of course, carry on with the rescue operation until the very last,'' a spokesman for the Emergencies Ministry said by telephone. Seventeen people remained in hospital.

Several explosions in succession struck a residential area of the city of Dnipropetrovsk on Saturday, reducing part of a 10-storey apartment building to rubble. Adjacent sections of the building and neighbouring homes were damaged.

The city's gas service said the explosion was caused by a sudden surge of supplies to the area. Local authorities have agreed to rehouse all residents of the building suffering the most damage.

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