At least 16 people were killed and 50 injured when a four-storey textiles factory collapsed in the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka.
The Phoenix mill, in the city's Mahakhali area, came down at around 11 am. (5 am Irish time) with some 150 workers inside.
Army, police and fire brigade rescuers trying to find survivors said many could still be trapped under tonnes of concrete. Some of the injured were in a critical condition.
"It may take several days to clear all the debris," one rescuer said. Hundreds of mourning relatives and onlookers crowding the site made the job even more difficult, he added.
The cause of the collapse was not known and factory bosses were not immediately available for comment.
Textiles are Bangladesh's biggest export, earning the country more than €5 billion annually. But safety standards at the factories are poor, with little sign of improving despite promises by the government and industry officials every time an industrial building collapses.
The sector employs nearly 2 million Bangladeshis, mostly women.
State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar, visiting the site of the latest disaster, said the Phoenix mill was among more than 100 poorly maintained industrial buildings listed for demolition on safety grounds.
The list was prepared after a high-rise garment factory at Palashbari, 18 miles from Dhaka, collapsed in April 2005, killing 74 workers and injuring hundreds.
On Thursday, fire destroyed the KTS Textile Mill in the port city of Chittagong, killing 54 workers and injuring at least 60.