18 killed in Russian military barrack collapse in Siberia

"Thirty-seven servicemen have been pulled out of the debris, 18 of them have died," Igor Konashenkov said in televised remarks.

"The search is ongoing for five soldiers. Nineteen have been hospitalised."

The accident happened on Sunday evening near the city of Omsk, at a training facility for Russian paratroopers.

In footage shown on Russian television, one section of the four-story building had completely fallen through and soldiers formed a chain to pass bricks and other debris from one to another in order to clear the mountain of rubble.

"Half of the heap has been cleared now," said acting commander of Russian paratroopers Nikolai Ignatov in remarks to Rossiya 24.