Iran Press/ Europe: A section of the five-story building in the town of Tymovskoye collapsed after a gas cylinder exploded in one of the apartments at around 5:30 a.m. Moscow time, authorities said.
The explosion occurred around 5 a.m. Moscow time (0200 GMT), and damaged part of the building, Russia's state news agency TASS reported, quoting the local emergency service.
Rescue teams were searching for more victims under the rubble, Sakhalin Region Governor, Valery Limarenko, wrote on Telegram. Some of the 33 people known to have lived in the building remained unaccounted for, he said.
According to Limarenko, residents affected by the explosion were offered temporary shelter and families who lost their homes will be paid 500,000 rubles ($8,217). Relatives of the people killed can expect to receive 1 million rubles ($16,434), he said.
Sakhalin is located in the Pacific Ocean, north of Japan.
Tymovskoye is about 500 km north of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the capital city of the Sakhalin region.
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