11-Month-Old Rescued From Explosion Rubble After 35 Hours

UPDATE: 3:32 a.m. EST — The condition of the child who was rescued after 35 hours from the rubble of a partially collapsed building in Magnitogorsk, Russia, was said to be stable and out of danger, Russia's Minister of Health Veronika Skvortsova told reporters Wednesday.

Original story:

After an explosion in the early hours of Monday led to the collapse of a residential building in the industrial city of Magnitogorsk , Russia, several people were reported trapped in the rubble. But rescuers' efforts bore fruit after an 11-month-old boy was found alive 35 hours after the incident, despite the freezing temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius below zero.

The boy, Ivan Fokin, had been presumed dead, and his discovery was called "a New Year's miracle" by his father. The baby was rushed to a hospital in Moscow, where his condition remained critical. The country's health ministry said the boy had severe frostbite to his limbs, a head injury and multiple leg fractures.

Video footage from the local emergency ministry showed how a rescue worker removed the dust wrapped dress of Fokin and wrapped him in a blanket before rushing to the ambulance.

Ivan was rescued after a rescue worker heard him crying and "a large-scale operation was immediately organized," Interfax news agency reported, citing emergency officials. Apart from adverse weather conditions, unstable debris posed further risks for the rescuers to save the child.

"The child was saved because it was in a crib and wrapped warmly," regional governor Boris Dubrovsky was quoted as saying by Interfax.

"Hundreds of people were waiting for the appearance of the injured child from under the rubble like a miracle. And the miracle happened...," the officials were quoted as saying by Interfax. "Tears drew in the eyes of the weatherbeaten rescuers."

The 10-storey building collapsed due to a suspected gas explosion. It had 48 apartments with 120 people residing in it. It killed at least 9 people, while 36 others were still missing, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

The rescue operation was almost halted out of fear other parts of the building were not stable and could collapse during the search operations.

The head of Russia’s emergencies ministry, Yevgeny Zinichev, said there was a “real threat of part of the building collapsing … It’s impossible to continue working in such conditions.” Efforts to stabilize the walls could take up to 24 hours, reported the Guardian.

It was a holiday for Russians and most people were asleep when the unfortunate incident took place. Olga Fokina, the mother of the infant, managed to escape the rubble with her 3-year-old son but could not take Ivan with her when escaping.

"I was sleeping on the couch with my older son, hugging him, and the young one was sleeping in his baby bed," Olga said on Russian TV. "I and the older one fell down and quickly got out and I didn't know what happened to the baby bed afterward."

The rescue operation was aided by heaters and lights. Hundreds of rescue workers were digging through the rubble in a hope to save more lives. Russia has lately been facing such incidents due to its aging Soviet-era infrastructure and a lack of adequate safety procedures, CNN reported.