A fireman stands before a warehouse after it was destroyed by a fire in Oakland, California. Pic/AFP

Oakland: Fire crews in California yesterday were searching the charred remains of a warehouse gutted by a blaze during a rave party, with officials saying the death toll could reach 40.Relatives of dozens of people missing in the Friday night blaze in Oakland near San Francisco endured an anxious wait for news. Twenty-four have been confirmed dead so far.

The converted two-story warehouse was used by artists as a living and work space but had no licence for this, officials said, nor for the electronic dance party underway when the blaze broke out. The cause of the fire was not yet known.Firefighters said the building seemed to have no sprinklers or smoke detectors.

Orange flames shot through the roof as the fire burned for hours and thick smoke billowed into the sky. The roof collapsed onto the second floor, which, officials said, was connected to the ground floor only by a makeshift system of wooden pallets.