Moscow: Eleven people including nine children were killed in the Chechen capital of Grozny early on June 6 after a blast ripped through a residential building.

Most of the victims were killed in their sleep as a section of the five-storey apartment block collapsed following the blast, state-run 'Rossia' TV channel said.

Chief of a rescue team told 'Rossia' channel, that the blast was perhaps caused by cooking gas leakage, as the sniffer dogs did not find any traces of explosive materials.

Chechnya prosecutor Vladimir Kravchenko said it appeared the cause of the blast was technical and not a terrorist act, the Interfax news agency reported.

However, authorities did not rule out a terrorist attack after 19 people, mostly Russian air crew, were killed by a female suicide bomber near the Russian military head quarters in Chechnya on June 5.

'Radio Mayak' reported some of the survivors saying they could feel the distinct smell of gunpowder after the blast.

Interfax said several of the dead were members of one family. The explosion severely damaged two floors of the building and partially destroyed another.

Rescue workers from the regional branch of the Emergency Situations Ministry and the branch from neighbouring Ingushetia rushed to the site.

PTI