The roof over a market in Moscow collapsed early Thursday apparently under the weight of heavy snowfall, killing at least 18 and injuring 24 others, Minister for Emergency Situations Sergei Shoigu said.

It was unclear how many people were in the market when the building collapsed at around 5:45 a.m. (0245 GMT), a spokesman for the city department of the Emergency Situations Ministry said, quoted by the Interfax news agency.

"Fifty emergency aid vehicles have been sent to the scene of the incident," the spokesman said.

The RIA Novosti news agency quoted Moscow city prosecutor Anatoly Zuyev as saying that up to 40 people could still be trapped in the wreckage. Many of those doing business at the market come from Central Asia.

Police have sealed off the streets leading to the market, which has been reduced to ruin. Xinhua correspondents at the scene saw many ambulances and bulldozers standing by as rescuers searched for those trapped in the rubble. Some of them were using mobile phones to help rescuers locate them.

Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov told reporters at the scene there is no evidence that the collapse was an act of terror. He said heavy snowfall overnight might be to blame as the market was built some 30 years ago.

The roof covers an area of 2,000-3,000 square meters in the eastern Moscow district of Baumanskaya.

Source: Xinhua