Russia High-Rise Blast: 14 confirmed dead on New Year's Eve explosion; rescue operations underway

attling freezing temperatures, rescuers have been combing through piles of mangled concrete and metal and trying to stabilise what remains of the walls in the Soviet-era apartment block, which had been home to about 1,100 people.. (Photo by HO / RUSSIAN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS MINISTRY / AFP)

The blast destroyed 35 apartments and damaged 10 more, leaving dozens of people homeless over the New Year -- the biggest holiday of the year in Russia. (Photo by STR / AFP)

This handout picture released by The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry on January 1, 2019, shows emergency officers transporting a survivor/ (Photo by HO / RUSSIAN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS MINISTRY / AFP)

Fourteen people are confirmed dead from the New Year's Eve explosion at a high-rise in central Russia, news agency AFP reported citing local officials, as rescuers continued to pull bodies from the rubble. Photo by HO / RUSSIAN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS MINISTRY / AFP)

This handout picture released by The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry on January 1, 2019, shows emergency officers transporting a baby surviver after the gas explosion rocked a residential building in Russia's Urals city of Magnitogorsk. (Photo by HO / RUSSIAN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS MINISTRY / AFP)

A gas explosion rocked a residential building in Russia's Urals city of Magnitogorsk on New Year’s eve. (Photo by HO / RUSSIAN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS MINISTRY / AFP)