A 26-year-old Shuhrat Ulfatov from Khatlon province found alive after seven hours in the rubble of apartment block in Magnitogorsk has been transported for treatment to Chelyabinsk. 

The 26-year-old native of Tajikistan, Shuhrat Ulfatov, who was seriously injured in collapse of apartment building in Magnitogorsk, has been taken by mobile intensive care ambulance (well-equipped ambulances staffed by highly trained paramedics dispatched to emergency situations where patients require a higher level of care than a regular ambulance can provide – Asia-Plus) to Chelyabinsk for treatment, Ural Press-Inform, citing the regional administration, reported on January 2. 

Recall, Shuhrat Ulfatov was found alive after seven hours in the rubble of an apartment block that collapsed in a gas explosion in the Russian city of Magnitogorsk December 31.  The fate of his wife and three children, unfortunately, remains unknown.   

Meanwhile, some media outlets reported yesterday night that Russian emergency officials say more bodies have been pulled from the rubble of a partially collapsed apartment building, bringing the death toll since Monday morning to 33.

Russian state-run news agencies TASS and RIA-Novosti reported that five more bodies were recovered late Wednesday in the vast heap of concrete rubble in Magnitogorsk.

Six children are reportedly among the people who were killed.


The prospects of finding more survivors appeared dim as the rescue effort continued from Monday's pre-dawn accident, which came after an explosion that officials say was likely caused by a gas leak.

A day of mourning was declared in the Chelyabinsk region that includes Magnitogorsk, and residents laid flowers and placed candles at the scene.  Some Muscovites laid commemorative flowers at the entrance of the office for the regional government's representative in the capital.