Additional Chief Fire Officer M F Dastoor said that a few more persons might still be trapped under the debris, which is likely to be removed by Tuesday afternoon.

The dead include three businessmen from Madhya Pradesh and one Subhash Babu from Surat besides Sushil Kochar and Chota Ishwarsinh whose addresses are yet to be ascertained. Four others could not be identified. Among the injured are Ranjan Mukherji, a railway official from Kolkata, one Mansur J Lalwani from Rajkot and one Sunita Momin, a resident of Danilimda area here.

The first two bodies on Monday morning were extricated at around 6.30 am by the personnel of Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES) and other search and rescue workers. After having started at 8.45 am on Sunday, the non-stop rescue operation continued even after 24 hours.

Interestingly, most of the victims, both dead and alive, were found stark naked when they were extricated from the debris. Officials present at the spot suspect that the hotel was being used for flesh trade. All the injured were taken to the Civil Hospital for treatment.

Even as the road remained closed to vehicular traffic for the second day, the police had a tough time handling curious crowds thronging the place. Khadia BJP councillor Mayur Dave, who was the only elected wing member present at the site on Monday, refuted reports that he shares the hotel ownership along with Gauran Jani, whose father Gangaram was a BJP worker. "All I can say is that Jani belongs to our Brahmin community," he said.

Municipal Commissioner I P Gautam, who visited the spot around 2 pm, said that strict action would taken against those found guilty in the case. Congress councillor Yusuf Saiyed, meanwhile, questioned as to how permission was given for construction of a new building within the 100-metre radius of a protected monument just across the road. He demanded a thorough inquiry into who had issued permission and sought strict action against that guilty.