Tuesday, April 12 2005 10:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Dhaka: Some 100 workers are still feared trapped inside a Bangladeshi garment factory that collapsed after a boiler explosion, as the toll mounted to 30 with recovery of more bodies by rescuers sifting through the rubble using bare hands and crowbars, officials said today (Apr 12, 2005).

Search for survivors continued overnight without much success due to lack of proper equipment in the factory in Gazipur district, 32 km northwest of Dhaka, which collapsed yesterday (Apr 11, 2005).

Four bodies were pulled out of the pile of concrete and metal overnight, bringing the toll to 30.

Some 100 injured workers were rescued and rushed to hospitals, officials said, adding the rescue operation would continue. Some 1,000 rescue workers were pressed into service under the Army's supervision, along with anxious relatives of the factory employees.

The Government has launched a probe into the country's deadliest such incident.

Police, Army and fire fighters were struggling to save those trapped inside the rubble of the nine-storied garment factory, witnesses said.

Upto 200 night shift workers were in the two floors of the factory when it caved, police and survivors said.

Apparently the building caved in after a boiler exploded in the newly constructed building. Hundreds of wailing relatives crowded the scene, but it was unclear exactly how many workers were still in the rubble.