At least 35 people were killed and 25 injured in a suicide truck-bomb attack on Friday at a local military hospital in the southern Russian region of North Ossetia bordering Chechnya.

"Thirty five bodies have been recovered from the shattered building," the Interfax news agency reported, quoting Russia's Deputy Prosecutor General Sergei Fridinsky.

"The number of casualties will probably be much higher, keeping in mind the scale of destruction and the number of people in the hospital," Fridinsky said.

There were 150 people in the hospital at the time of the incident, including 100 patients and 50 staff members, Fridinsky said.

The Interfax earlier reported that a vehicle drove up to the hospital at around 1930 IST, causing a powerful blast, which was heard as far as 15 km from the spot.

RIA Novosti agency quoted an interior ministry source as saying the blast 'leveled the military hospital'.

Itar-Tass has put the death toll at 10.