MOSCOW: Nine people have been found dead in the rubble of a five-storey apartment block that partially collapsed on the Russian Pacific island of Sakhalin, the regional governor said on Saturday, and emergency services were searching for one still missing.

Russian news agencies said the collapse appeared to have been caused by a gas explosion.

TASS quoted a source in the emergency services as saying a 20-litre gas cylinder connected to a cooking stove had blown up.

Russia's Investigative Committee said it was investigating the cause of the disaster.

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