10 children among killed in Russian swimming pool roof collapse
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-05 13:58

A concrete roof over a swimming pool collapsed, killing 14 people, including 10 children, in the Russian Ural Mountains region, the Emergency Situations Ministry said Monday.

The accident occurred around 1 p.m. Sunday at an indoor pool near the Russian city of Perm, about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) east of Moscow, the ministry said in a statement.

Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov said that 14 people had been killed and 11 people remained hospitalized with injuries.

The 10 dead children ranged in age from three to 13, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

Investigators were looking into whether fluctuations in temperature or a recent heavy snowfall could have caused the roof to collapse.

Rescuers had to lift concrete slabs out of the pool, which was owned by a metallurgical factory in the village of Chusovoi.

The incident echoed a similar collapse at a popular Moscow water park in February 2004, in which 28 people died and more than 100 others were injured.