Russian Military Barracks Collapse in Siberia Kills 23 Soldiers
MOSCOW, July 13 (UPI) — Twenty-three Russian soldiers were killed after the Russian Airborne Troops training center military barracks collapsed Sunday.
The training center is located in Omsk, a city in southwestern Siberia. It is suspected that shoddy renovation work from 2013 caused the collapse and an investigation has been conducted to see if possible negligence contributed to the disaster.
The four-story building began collapsing at about 7:50 p.m. on Sunday night, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman told Interfax. Officials have said 19 servicemen were admitted to a hospital, and likely survived the wreckage while five others remain missing, BBC News reported. Most of the victims were males between the ages of 18 and 24.
At the time of the collapse, there were 337 servicemen inside.
One section of the building collapsed as soldiers formed a chain to pass bricks and other debris to clear the mountain of rubble, according to Russian news reports. An emergency response team was working at the scene overnight, and survivors were airlifted to a Moscow hospital.
“Half of the heap has been cleared now,” said Nikolai Ignatov, the acting commander of Russian the paratroopers in remarks broadcast on television.
The military barracks reportedly is a training center for junior officers and armored infantry vehicle drivers.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed of the accident, a Kremlin spokesman said.
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