AS many as 40 people could still be trapped in the rubble of a Russian apartment block that partially collapsed in an explosion yesterday, killing at least four people.

The blast, thought to have been caused by a gas leak, occurred at 6am local time and damaged 48 apartments in a nine-storey building in Magnitogorsk, an industrial city some 1,700km east of Moscow, the emergencies ministry said.

President Vladimir Putin flew into Magnitogorsk yesterday afternoon, visiting the injured in hospital and meeting local authorities.

Mr Putin looked on as rescue workers toiled in temperatures of -22C to find people trapped in the debris.

Emergencies minister Yevgeny Zinichev said there were “presumably between 36 and 40 people under the rubble”, according to reports.

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