At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured following an explosion and fire at a pharmaceutical factory near the southern Indian city of Hyderabad on Tuesday.

The death toll was updated on Tuesday morning as rescue and search teams continued to look for other factory workers who were still missing. About 108 workers were at the site when the blast occured. 

Telangana's Chief Minister Revanth Reddy visited the site on Tuesday morning and posted a video showing wreckage at the factory.

Footage broadcast by local news outlets showed the Sigachi Industries factory in the Sangareddy district of Telangana reduced to ruins and plumes of black smoke billowing into the air.

"The whole structure of the factory has collapsed. Fire has been doused, and we hope to finish removing the debris in the next few hours,"  the state's fire services director G.V. Narayana Rao told AP news agency. 

Firefighters said they recovered the charred corpses of workers while more than 30 others were admitted to hospital.

A special medical team had been assigned to conduct DNA tests since some bodies were charred beyond recognition.

"It was an explosion in a spray dryer unit of the factory, which is used to process raw material into fine powder for making drugs," said a fire department spokesman, without specifying what exactly caused the blast. "We are continuing to search the rubble for other bodies,"

Modi announces compensation for families

A total of 65 workers were in the factory at the time of the explosion, according to the Times of India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his anguish over the loss of lives on social media and promised 200,000 Indian rupees ($2,333; €1,986) in financial support to each next of kin.

India is home to some of the world's top pharmaceutical companies which play a major role in the global supply of generic medicines and vaccines.

But industrial accidents, particularly involving chemical reactors, are common.

Edited by: Zac Crellin