Bangladesh housing collapse rescue operation called off

The building is reported to have collapsed like a "house of cards"

Rescue workers in Bangladesh have stopped searching for bodies in the ruins of a four-storey building that collapsed in Dhaka on Tuesday.

The collapse killed at least 25 people and injured several others.

The building, constructed on the edge of a canal, fell down on top of three flimsy homes where scores of low-paid garment workers and labourers lived.

Officials say the building collapsed as the owner was adding another floor to an already unsafe structure.

"Having recovered 25 dead bodies from the rubble, we have called off the search and rescue operation," the director of Dhaka's fire brigade, Sheikh Mohammad Shahjalal, told the AFP news agency.

"We don't have reports of anyone else missing," Mr Shahjalal said, pointing out that the army and fire brigade had removed large quantities of debris from the nearby canal.

Police say that six children and nine women are among the dead.

In 2006, at least 15 people died and 50 were injured when a five-storey building collapsed in Dhaka.

And in 2005, more than 60 people died when an illegally constructed garment factory collapsed near Dhaka.