Twenty-three Russian soldiers were killed on Sunday when a section of the military barracks where they were sleeping collapsed, the BBC reported. Nineteen servicemen were rescued, and some of them were apparently injured and flown to Moscow for medical treatment.

The concrete building housed a total of 337 military personnel, NBC News reported based on reports by the semiofficial Russian news agency TASS. The barracks, built in 1975 and renovated in 2013, is located in the central southern region of Omsk, approximately 1,400 miles from the country's capital. Russia's safety record is poor, and the country has a history of building collapses and transport accidents, Reuters reported.

"As of 10 a.m. on July 13, 42 service members have been found under the rubble, 23 of them died," Russia's Defense Ministry noted in a statement carried by TASS. The incident may have been caused by violations during repair work, an unnamed regional law enforcement source said.

Moscow, meanwhile, dispatched a special commission to investigate the collapse, and Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu ordered the inspection of all military facilities in Omsk, according to RT. Russia's chief military prosecutor, Sergei Fridinsky, was also present at the scene.

Authorities have deployed more than 900 specialists and 21 units of heavy machinery to assist in the rescue operations. Civilian medical personnel from Moscow arrived to help local military medics, while canine units are also aiding the rescue efforts.

The federal Investigative Committee, meanwhile, noted it was looking into the quality of the repairs carried out in 2013, Reuters reported. Vladimir Markin, the body's spokesman, sought to reassure the public the incident would be thoroughly investigated.

"I can say that all people responsible in varying degrees for this tragedy, regardless of their position or duty, will be prosecuted and will be punished," Markin said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, for his part, sent his condolences to the families of the victims and ordered the Defense Ministry do all it could to assist those hurt, the Kremlin said in a statement.