Baby Rescued Nearly 36 Hours after Apartment Explosion and Collapse in Russia

MOSCOW (AP) — Laboring through sub-freezing temperatures, Russian rescue workers were digging into a sprawling heap of jagged rubble from a collapsed apartment building when one heard the faintest sound. It was the sound of life. On Tuesday, to everyone's delight and surprise, they pulled a baby boy out of the rubble alive, nearly 36 hours after the disaster that blew apart his home. His father called it "a New Year's miracle." Photos: Rescue at Russian Apartment Explosion The building collapse in the Russian city of Magnitogorsk before dawn Monday has killed at least nine people so far, and officials say 32 people who lived in the building have still not been accounted for. The collapse followed an explosion that was believed to have been caused by a gas leak. The boy, an 11-month-old named Ivan Fokin, was in extremely serious condition, officials said, with fractures, a head injury and suffering from hypothermia and frostbite after his ordeal in temperatures around minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit). He was flown to Moscow late Tuesday in a desperate attempt to save his life. He was in stable condition on arrival in the capital, the head of the national public health institute Vladimir Uiba was quoted as telling state news agency Tass. Although Ivan's prospects for survival appeared dire, "it's a New Year's miracle," his father Yevgeny was quoted as saying by the RT satellite TV channel.   The father was at work when his wife ph...
Source: JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services News - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: International Major Incidents News Source Type: news