Many of the trapped workers were begging for help after a fire engulfed the plastic packaging factory in Tongi this morning, a neighbour said.

Waving their hands through the windows of the factory, the workers were crying for help but those who were outside could not go near to the building due to huge flames, Gul Chan, a housewife, told our visiting staff correspondent in the afternoon.

Chan who lives in a house adjacent to the factory said she woke up in the morning hearing an explosion. She, her children and family members got out of their house hurriedly seeing flames at the factory.

The fire engulfed the four-storey building of Tampaco Foils Limited in minutes after the explosion, she said.

Around two and a half hours into the explosion, a portion of the building collapsed, she added.