Moscow  - Seven people were killed when a gas container exploded at an apartment building in the Russian province of Siberia on Sunday.

Children were among those killed, Russian authorities said, according to a report by the Interfax news agency. Seven of the building's occupants were admitted to hospital for burns.

The explosion sparked a fire in the wooden two-storey building in the city of Irkutsk, some 5,000 kilometres east of Moscow. The cause was yet to be determined. (dpa)