At least 82 people have died in India after an 8-storey building collapsed on the outskirts of the city of Dhaka in Bangladesh. Another 700 were injured in the incident which involved several garment factories.

It is also understood that the block housed a shopping centre.

Brigadier General Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder said 600 people had been rescued but that the death toll could rise.

Firefighters and soldiers using drilling machines and cranes worked together with local volunteers in the search for other survivors.

The building fell into itself leaving it about two storeys tall.

The Bangladeshi garment industry has been plagued by fires and other accidents for years despite a drive to improve safety standards. In November last year 112 workers were killed in a blaze at a factory in an industrial suburb of Dhaka.

Buildings in Dhaka are sometimes built without permission and many do not comply with construction regulations.