Foundation problems may have caused building collapse

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- As rescuers searched for people who might remain trapped in the smoky rubble of an apartment building, Russia's emergency minister said Tuesday that foundation problems probably caused the deadly collapse.

One person was known dead and four were missing a day after the nine-story building plunged to the ground in a cloud of dust.

About 430 people were left homeless by the incident.

Emergency workers and soldiers continued searching through the ruins of the building Tuesday, but no bodies or survivors were found.

Emergency Minister Sergei Shoigu said the foundation problems that led to the collapse probably started at least two days before the building fell.

Each eight-room apartment housed several families who shared a kitchen and bath, a common Soviet construction solution to housing shortages.

Aging infrastructure has led to many accidents in Soviet-era state-built apartment blocks, which house a large portion of Russia's population.

Photographs of the 30-year-old building show that a corner of the structure was already drooping before the collapse, said Vladimir Drozdov, spokesman from the city's Civil Defense and Emergency Situations service.