Moscow - An explosion in the North Caucasus region of Ingushetia Tuesday destroyed an official building, killing one person and injuring 17, Russian news agencies reported.

The republic's bailiff offices in the capital of Nazran blew up at 9.50 am Moscow time, Interfax cited a a law enforcement source as saying.

An estimated 30 people were caught beneath the rubble, an Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Irina Andrianova told Itar- Tass.

Adrianova and other sources were cited as saying the most likely cause of the blast was a gas leak.

"According to the last data I received, 17 people were injured in the collapse of the bailiff building," the Ingush President, Yunis- Bek Yevkurov, was quoted by Interfax as saying.

"All possible resources are being deployed to render assistance to the victims," he said.

Ingushetia is a poverty- and strife-torn region bordering Chechnya, where the Kremlin has been fighting a insurgents, who have been linked to militant Islamic movements. (dpa)