Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko rushed to the east of the country onJan. 18after an explosion in a hospital killed at least three people, according to the emergency ministry.
A ministry spokesman had earlier said five people died but its website and local officials have since said only three deaths were confirmed.
The explosion in the eastern town of Luhansk was caused by oxygen tanks which blew up in a cardiac ward at the hospital.
A local official said 22 people were in the vicinity of the explosion and rescue workers and the police were trying to verify how many are missing under the rubble.
"At the time of the explosion in the hospital, there was a (medics) shift change and at the moment no one knows where all the doctors are," a spokesman for Luhansk’s regional administration told Reuters.
"At the moment there are three dead. There are people under the rubble but we do not yet know how many. At the time of the explosion there were a maximum 22 people — 14 doctors and eight patients," he said.
Tymoshenko’s press service said she was flying to the Luhansk. She came second behind opposition leader Victor Yanukovich in a presidential election on Sunday and the two will face off in a second round vote on Feb. 7.
