(Reuters) - Police and fire officials in Oakland, California, said on Tuesday they do not expect the death toll from a blaze that engulfed a converted warehouse during a dance party to rise above 36 people but could not rule it out as they continued picking through debris.
Emergency workers had searched and cleared 85 percent of the warehouse, officials said during a televised news conference. Searchers are still sifting through the rest of the building, with some parts still too unstable to enter.
"We're going to continue the investigation. We're going to continue the process until absolutely every piece of debris is removed from the building (and) every area has been searched," said Oakland Police Department spokeswoman Johnna Watson.
The cause of the fire, which erupted late on Friday in a sprawling two-story building leased to an artists' collective, has yet to be determined.
Officials have said arson was not immediately suspected. But charges ranging from involuntary manslaughter to murder could feature in a potential criminal case, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley told a news conference on Monday.