Dhaka, Sep 26 (IANS): The death toll in a Bangladesh factory fire has risen to 39 as rescuers on Monday pulled three more bodies out of the rubble of a packaging factory that partially collapsed due to a water boiler explosion earlier this month.

The fire at Tampaco Foils Limited fire broke out on September 10 in Tongi.

The three bodies recovered on Monday were charred beyond recognition, the Dhaka Tribune quoted a senior police official as saying.

The reason behind the fire remains unclear as government officials claimed that the water boiler had not exploded and the fire originated from a gas leak.

The government had announced Taka 2 lakh as compensation to the deceased persons' families and Taka 1 lakh to those injured.

The factory employed around 450 workers, and some 75 persons were working when the incident took place. Many others were also critically injured in the fire 

A fire at a plastics factory last year killed 13 persons, and in 2013 more than 1,100 people died in the Rana Plaza factory collapse, the worst industrial accident in the country.