At least seven female workers have been killed after a blaze swept through a small garment factory in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka.

The victims at the Smart factory, which employed around 300 people paid as little as $37 a month, died during a stampede and from suffocation when the fire broke out during a lunch break.

Firefighters brought the inferno under control within two hours and an investigation is now underway to determine the cause of the fire.

At least five other workers were critically injured.