DNIPROPETROVSK, Oct. 14 - At least 14 people were killed in a natural gas explosion that destroyed much of a 10-storey apartment building in eastern Ukraine, officials said Sunday.
Amid contradictory reports on the toll from Saturday's blast in the city of Dnipropetrovsk, rescuers aided by sniffer dogs continued to pick through rubble in hope of finding survivors.

Olexander Dmyterko, a spokesman for the Emergency Situations Ministry in the region, told AFP that "nine bodies have been found at the site and a young girl died of her injuries in hospital."

However, Ukrainian television reports, also carried by the Interfax news agency, quoted the ministry as saying that 14 people had died.

A total of 17 people were being treated in hospital, the ministry said, quoted by Interfax. Many of the injuries were serious, doctors said.

Interfax reported that rescuers were still seeking more than 20 people who could have been caught inside the building, home to about 400 people.

A team of around 100 rescue workers with sniffer dogs searched for survivors after emergency services evacuated residents from the remaining part of the block.

One woman tried to break through the police cordon around the block, sobbing: "Let me through! My daughter is in there!"

Local inhabitants later brought food, warm clothes and blankets to victims, who were being put up in city hotels or with acquaintances.
A nearby school was being used as headquarters for the rescue operation and as a centre for psychological care.

The local gas company said that a sudden and still unexplained surge in gas pressure had triggered the explosion, without giving further information.

The explosion at 11:00 am (0800 GMT) destroyed part of the block and broke the windows of neighboring buildings.

Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said at the scene that the explosion was "probably" caused by a "breakdown" in the gas distribution system, Interfax reported.

Several people said they had smelled gas before the blast, while some residents reported suspicious behavior by three men near the building's gas supply earlier in the day. This was not immediately confirmed.

The local prosecutor's office has opened an inquiry into the incident. (afp/ez)