In Yevpatoriya MES rescuers finalize sifting basements of destroyed by the blast building

By the time 07:00 of December 26 the works in clearing the basements of the first and second destroyed porches are coming to end. By this time over 1600 tons of rubbles of building constructions have been removed. Search of victims is being carried round the day with applying of special equipment, means of small mechanization and cynological services.

Officers of MES have rescued 21 persons (including 2 children), with 5 people hospitalized to medical establishments of the Crimean AR. The rescuers found amidst the rubbles bodies of 26 dead including 3 children.

On December 25 a Governmental Commission into investigating of reasons and liquidation of consequences of the blast assembled, led by the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Olexandr Turchynov, and determined top-priority tasks in terms of stirring-up emergency rescuing works, solving of social issues of the victims, notably, providing them with new accommodation, payment of compensation for the destroyed property, faster completing measures on liquidation and investigation of reasons in which the tragedy occurred.

Into the rescuing works 565 persons and 47 items of equipment are involved, including 255 rescuers and 32 items of equipment from the Ministry of Emergencies. The local resort Femida has prepared places for 53 people suffering in the disaster. By this time 46 people have addressed with request and have already been accommodated. The victims and their families are being rendered psychological aid.

Mass media uninterruptedly provide the population with data concerning the situation in the area of occurrence the emergency situation and measures taken to normalize it. The coordination is maintained by operative staff led by the MES Minister Volodymyr Shandra. In the Ministry an operative group is being functioning.

At 21:45, on December 24 in Yevpatoriya, in Nekrasova str., 67, in a five-storey six-porch 95-apartment residential building a blast occurred, the reason of which is being investigated. As a result of explosion 33 flats were destroyed (the first and second porches of the building with 58 registered people in them) and flats of the third porch were damaged.