ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — As many as 60 people are feared dead after an airstrike hit a school in the Luhansk region of Ukraine on Saturday, local officials said.
Approximately 90 people were taking shelter in the basement of the school in the eastern Ukrainian village of Bilohorivka when Russian forces attacked, The Washington Post reported. Thirty people were rescued on Saturday, the newspaper reported. Seven of them were injured and the bodies of two people were found in the rubble, the region’s governor said.
“Most likely, all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead,” Gov. Serhiy Haidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app, according to The Associated Press. Russian shelling also killed two boys, ages 11 and 14, in the nearby town of Pryvillia, Haidai said.
Bilohorivka is only a few miles from the front line and has come under repeated assault, according to The New York Times.
Haidai said it was likely that all 60 people buried under the rubble are dead, the Post reported. Authorities battled for nearly four hours to extinguish a fire caused by the bomb, he said.
More coverage:
- Vladimir Putin: Who is Russia’s president?
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy: Who is Ukraine’s president?
- What does the Russian invasion of Ukraine mean for America’s economy?
- Russia attacks Ukraine: How to donate to people in Ukraine
- 6 things to know about Ukraine
- Why did Russia fight for control of Chernobyl, the site of a nuclear disaster?
- How to talk to children about the conflict in Ukraine
- Ukraine invasion: What sanctions are being imposed on Russia?
©2022 Cox Media Group