Condolences delivered after deadly Russian blast

President Xi Jinping sent a message of condolence on Wednesday to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after the deadly gas explosion of a building in Magnitogorsk in the Ural Mountains in the country's southwest.

The 10-story residential structure collapsed before dawn on Monday, leaving at least 21 people dead. Officials said 20 others who lived there were still unaccounted for.

On behalf of the Chinese government, the people, and himself, Xi offered his condolences for the victims and sincere sympathy to the injured and the family members.

Xi said he believed that under the firm leadership of President Putin, the accident will definitely be handled properly.

Premier Li Keqiang also sent a message to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to express condolences for the victims and sincere sympathy to the victims' families.

Prospects of finding anyone alive in the rubble have diminished sharply after two nights of harsh cold, with overnight temperatures dipping to as low as -20 C, the Associated Press reported.

On Tuesday, to everyone's delight and surprise, an 11-month-old boy survived a 36-hour ordeal in extremely cold temperatures, and was pulled out of the collapsed building by rescuers.

The boy's father called it "a New Year's miracle".

According to Tass News Agency, the boy was in extremely serious condition, with fractures and a head injury, and was suffering from hypothermia and frostbite after his ordeal in temperatures around -20 C.

He was flown to Moscow late Tuesday in a desperate attempt to save his life.

He was in stable condition on arrival in the capital, said Vladimir Uiba, head of the national public health institute.

The boy's father was at work when his wife phoned to say their residential building had collapsed. She escaped with a 3-year-old son, Russian news reports said.

"I was sleeping on the couch with my elder son, hugging him, and the young one was sleeping in his baby bed," mother Olga Fokina said on Russian TV Channel 1. "I fell down with the elder one and quickly got out, and I didn't know what happened to the baby bed afterward."

Rescue worker Pyotr Gritsenko said that Ivan's discovery came after one of the crew heard faint cries.

"They stopped all the equipment. He began to cry louder," but the crew couldn't find him, he said. A search dog was brought in and confirmed that someone was under the rubble.

The father said he helped rescuers dig in the rubble and "showed them a place where Ivan would likely be".

Regional governor Boris Dubrovsky was quoted as saying by the Interfax News Agency that Ivan apparently had been protected by being in a crib and wrapped warmly.

The rescue operation, aided by powerful heaters and lights, was continuing overnight into Wednesday in the city about 1,400 kilometers southeast of Moscow.

Putin visited the accident site on Monday and went to a local hospital, where he spoke to a 13-year-old boy who had head injuries and frostbite after spending an hour under the rubble, the Associated Press reported.

In telephone talks, Putin thanked rescue officials for their selfless work at the site, the Kremlin press office reported on Tuesday.

AP, Tass and Interfax contributed to this story.