The government wants to know who is responsible for the collapse

They say that the chances of finding anyone else alive are fast evaporating.

The death toll in the collapse has risen to 32, with two more bodies being pulled from the remains of the nine storey building on Wednesday night.

Fire fighters say troops have rescued 123 people since Monday, but that more than 100 are still unaccounted for.

'Gigantic task'

"We are trying to find more people but hopes to find them alive are evaporating. Only a miracle would keep them alive now," rescue operator Mohammad Selim told reporters on Thursday.

Military spokesman Brigadier Nizam Ahmed told the AFP news agency that there was a faint possibility that some people may still be alive in between the concrete layers of the debris at Savar, 32km (20 miles) from the capital, Dhaka.

But rescuers say it will "take days" to complete the operation. which was a gigantic task despite the use of cranes, excavators and concrete cutters.

They say the operation has been hampered because of the lack of expertise to handle such a disaster.

Hopes are fading that survivors will be found

Meanwhile the government has asked the Dhaka Development Authority to take action if an investigation into the collapse by police and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) reveals evidence of criminal negligence.

BGMEA President Annisul Huq told a Dhaka television station on Wednesday that foreign textile buyers have expressed concern about standards of safety in garment factories following the collapse.

Help to survive

"Some of our clients are already making queries over the incident and asking about safety standards and compliance," he said.

Grieving relatives of the victims say they need immediate help to survive.

We are trying to find more people but hopes to find them alive are evaporating Rescue operator Mohammad Seli In pictures: Building collapse

"What will we do with an inquiry report? My son is gone forever, leaving behind his wife and children," Saleha Banu, mother of a dead worker, told the Reuters news agency.

"They will starve. I will starve as he was the only earning member of the family," she said.

On Wednesday Bangladesh's army took over the search, as temperatures hit 34 degrees Celsius.

The Spectrum Sweater and Knitting Industries factory was packed with hundreds of workers on the night shift when it collapsed, probably because of a boiler explosion.