South Korea said Monday that it is considering sending a message of condolence to North Korea over a recent deadly collapse of an apartment building in Pyongyang that has claimed an unspecified number of casualties.

A Red Cross official said that an internal review is under way to determine whether to send a message, though he did not say when a final decision will be made.

Unification ministry spokesman Kim Eui-do told reporters that the Red Cross will make an appropriate judgment on the case.

The move came a day after North Korea reported that an apartment building collapsed in the Phyongchon District in Pyongyang.

North Korea has said improper construction and irresponsible supervision of the high-rise construction are responsible for the disaster.

Senior North Korean officials have offered a rare public apology to a group of North Korean people in what could be the first public apology over an accident in the communist country.

The North did not elaborate on the death toll and said it ended its rescue operation on Saturday, but South Korea suspects that a "considerable" number of people may have been killed in the accident, noting about 92 households may have been living in the 23-story building.(Yonhap)