The death toll from an apartment block collapse in western India jumped to 35 Wednesday, officials said, as hopes of finding anyone else alive dimmed.

Emergency workers from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have so far pulled 20 survivors from the rubble of the three-story building in Bhiwandi.

An NDRF spokesman and local authorities told reporters that recovery teams retrieved 35 bodies buried under brick and concrete after the block came crashing down before dawn on Monday.

An official with Thane city authorities, which oversees Bhiwandi, said the dead included eight children.

Reuters