Blast Hits Moscow Apartment Block-Russian

The agencies quoted emergency workers as saying no people were killed by the blast, which occurred shortly after 4 a.m. (0100 GMT), destroying internal walls and blowing out windows in the southern Moscow block.

Emergency workers evacuated residents from the building into a fleet of buses.

Gas explosions are common in Russia, but any explosion will rattle the nerves of Russians braced for attacks aimed at disrupting presidential elections next Sunday.