At least 20 people were killed and dozens others sustained injuries as a boiler explosion resulted in a devastating fire in a packaging factory at Tongi on the outskirts of Bangladesh capital Dhaka on Saturday morning, police said.

According to the police official who did not like to be named, the initial assumption was that there was a blast in the boiler room that led to the fire at TEMPAC, a garment accessories factory, at around 6:00 a.m. (local time) on Saturday.

"At least 10 bodies were recovered shortly after the explosion," he said.

Nearly 70 people were injured in the fire triggered by explosion, said the official and they were rushed to different local hospitals where another 10 people succumbed to their injuries, he added.

The official said the death toll may go up as many people have sustained critical injuries.

Twenty units of firefighters after hectic efforts of hours managed to douse the fire at around 11:35 a.m. local time.

There are fears that some workers are trapped inside the burning factory building that has partially collapsed.

The spokesman of the factory was not immediately available for comment.

Source : XINHUA