No casualties in St. Petersburg university building collapse

Feb. 16 (UPI) -- A building at a university in St. Petersburg collapsed from the fifth to the second floor Saturday afternoon, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said.

Searchers recovered no bodies and no one remained trapped under the rubble of the St. Petersburg National Research University of Low Temperatures and Food Technology, university rector Vladimir Vasylyev told RT.

In all, 86 people were evacuated, emergency services said.

The five-story building's roof had a gaping hole.

Violations of safety rules during repair work caused the collapse, Russian state-run news agency Tass said, citing preliminary reports.

Russia's Investigative Committee said it launched a criminal investigation.