MOSCOW: At least 23 soldiers were killed when a military barracks collapsed in Russia's Omsk region, Russian news agencies said on Monday.

A Defence Ministry statement said the concrete building which housed military personnel in the village of Svetly in southern central Russia had collapsed on Sunday, trapping people inside.

Interfax news agency quoted a ministry official, Igor Konashenkov, as saying the death toll had reached 23 by Monday morning and 19 people had been taken to hospital.