At least nine people were killed after an apartment building partially collapsed in the village of Shakhan in central Kazakhstan, local authorities said Monday.

A spokesman for the republic's emergencies committee at the ministry had earlier put the death toll at two.The building collapsed in the town of Shakhan in the Karaganda region late Sunday.Four survivors have been pulled from the rubble, among them two children. The rescue and recovery effort is ongoing. Officials said the death toll may rise.