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'Miracle' Baby Who Survived Under Rubble Of Collapsed Russian Apartment Block Released From Hospital


Ivan Fokin is seen in a Moscow hospital on January 18.
Ivan Fokin is seen in a Moscow hospital on January 18.

An infant who was found alive by rescuers beneath the rubble of a collapsed Russian apartment building on New Year's Eve has been released from a Moscow hospital.

The boy, Ivan Fokin, was released on February 14, hospital officials said.

Fokin was 10-months old when the apartment building where he lived collapsed in the Ural city of Magnitogorsk.

Russian Rescuers Pull Infant From Collapsed Building
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His mother and father survived the explosion and subsequent collapse of their apartment. The father, Yevgeny, called his son's rescue "a New Year's miracle."

Local authorities say they suspect a natural-gas explosion brought down a section of the high-rise building.

When he was rescued some 35 hours later, Fokin was suffering from a skull injury, fractured bones, damage to his kidneys, frostbite, dehydration, and hypothermia.

Thirty-nine people were killed in the tragedy.

After a claim of responsibility was made by extremists from the Islamic State (IS) extremist group, and following Russian media reports suggesting the blast may have been the result of a terrorist attack, Russia's Investigative Committee said it did not find any traces of explosives.

Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax

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