Emergency personnel work at the site where an apartment block was heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike (Picture: Reuters)
The death toll in Russia’s missile strike on a nine-storey apartment building in south-central Ukraine has risen to 23.
Rescuers worked through the night after the rocket attack on the block in Dnipro, but at least 40 people are still unaccounted for.
A child is among those killed in the assault, according to state emergency service.
At least 72 people were injured, including 13 youngsters, the latest update from Dnipro City Council said.
There are fears many more are buried beneath the rubble of the apartment block where 1,100 people lived.
The chances of pulling more survivors from the wreckage are ‘minimal’, the city’s mayor, Borys Filatov, said.
Rescuers search for missing residents of the apartment block (Picture: Getty)
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A woman is being rescued from under the rubble of her apartment on the fourth floor 16 hours after the strike (Picture: Reuters)
Around 1,100 people lived in the building (Picture: Getty)
A man rescues his cat from the rubbles (Picture: Getty)
Firefighters worked through the night to locate survivors (Picture: Getty)
Emergency workers carry a wounded woman on a stretcher (Picture: AP)
‘May God help us find several of them. I think the number of dead will be in the dozens,’ he added.
Some 72 flats were destroyed and more than 230 were partially damaged, leaving hundreds homeless in the middle of winter.
The building was hit during a wave of Russian strikes on Ukraine on Saturday, the latest of attacks in recent months on critical infrastructure that have plunged the country into darkness and killed civilians.
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As Mr Filatov spoke, rescue workers were digging through smashed concrete and twisted metal from a portion of the building.
He said he believed the missile, which he described as an ‘absolutely inaccurate’ X-22, was likely aimed at a power station nearby.
‘But the missile flew by and hit a residential building,’ he said.
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The chances of pulling more survivors from the wreckage are ‘minimal’.
