KIEV (AP) -- The death toll in a natural gas explosion that rocked an apartment building in eastern Ukraine has reached 15, though rescue workers continued searching for more people possibly buried under the rubble, emergency officials said.

The blast on Saturday destroyed much of the 10-story building in the industrial city of Dnipropetrovsk, about 370 miles from the capital, Kiev, ripping off parts of the roof and blowing out dozens of windows.
Seventeen people, including three children, remained hospitalized Monday, while others were still missing and may be buried beneath the debris, said Lyudmila Shcherban, a spokeswoman for the Emergency Situations Ministry.
Shcherban said one possible cause of the blast, which was still being investigated, was a sharp increase in pressure in the pipes.
Prosecutors later said on their Web site that two senior managers at Dniprogaz, the city's gas operator, had been arrested on suspicion of negligence in the incident. The statement gave no details.