Dnipro Mayor: Twenty people injured in Russian missile attack on apartment building in Dnipro are in critical condition

KYIV. Jan 17 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Twenty people injured as a result of a missile attack by the Russian occupation forces on a multi-apartment building in Dnipro are in critical condition as of Tuesday evening, Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov has said.

"Twenty people are in critical condition. In general, 75 people sought medical care," he said on the air of the Channel 11 in Dnipro.

The mayor said that the rescue operation at the site of the attack has been completed, and now the municipal services will "dismantle the parts of the block of flats next to the site of explosion to prevent the collapse of the constructions, which are hanging in the air now, from falling down on the residents of the city and inhabitants of the building."

"I think everyone has seen the official data. Forty-four people were killed, including five children. There are missing people, however, there are unidentified people as well. We thing that these unidentified people are those who are missing," Filatov said.

To a clarifying question whether there is a chance to find those missing alive, the mayor of the city replied that "these chances are close to zero."

The municipal authorities will take up all funeral expenses for the citizens killed during the attack.

"With the exception for a memorial dinner. We are already proposing to pay for the coffins and cemetery plots," Filatov said.

The mayor also said that the city will pay material assistance to those injured for treatment.

"This will be done by the Social Protection Department, for this one needs to come to the Soborna District Administration and fill out all applications there. Concerning the reimbursement of funds for housing, in our city, deputies of the City Council have adopted a special program for reimbursement of funds for housing, which provides for a maximum payment of UAH 1 million," Filatov said.

The mayor also said that there would be differentiation in the payments, "since someone had a one-room apartment, someone had a three-room apartment, someone lost all their belongings, and someone else can save some of their things."

Speaking about what will happen next with the damaged house, the mayor said, "63 or 64 apartments were completely destroyed, the first and the second blocks are nearby. We will decide after the instrumental examination what we should do with these blocks. I really hope that we will not have to dismantle it completely."

The mayor clarified that he was speaking not about the demolition of the entire building, but only about several of its blocks, in the place of which, according to Filatov, "there should be a square, since nothing needs to be built in the cemetery."

Filatov also said that an instrumental examination of the building will be carried out immediately after receiving the appropriate permission from the State Emergency Service. After it is carried out and the relevant results are obtained, a decision will be made on the financial assistance for damaged or destroyed housing.