At least eight people have been killed in a fire that swept through a garment-making factory in the Bangladeshi capital, with the owner among the victims, police said Thursday.

The cause of the fire was not known but authorities said it broke out during the night on the third floor of an 11-storey building housing two garment factories in the capital's Darussalam district.

Bangladeshi opposition parties have called a two-day nationwide shutdown from Wednesday to protest what they describe as the "mass killing" of Islamists in a crackdown by security forces.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its Islamist allies called the strike after saying that hundreds of people died on Sunday and early Monday, when police broke up a mass rally in central Dhaka.

Hundreds of survivors of Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster blocked a main highway to demand wages Tuesday as the death toll from the collapse of a nine-storey building passed 700, officials said.

More than 3,000 garment workers were on shift at the Rana Plaza complex at the time of the collapse on the morning of April 24, making clothing for Western retailers such as Britain's Primark and the Spanish label Mango.

The death toll from Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster surpassed 650 Monday after dozens of bodies were pulled from the wreckage of a nine-storey building housing garment factories, the army said.

Major Manzur Elahi of the army control room, which was set up to coordinate the rescue operation following the disaster last month, told AFP that recovery efforts had gathered pace and the "death toll now stands at 654".

At least 28 people have died in street battles between Bangladeshi police and tens of thousands of Islamists, officials said Monday, deepening the divide between the secular government and religious hardliners.

In some of the fiercest violence to rock the capital since independence four decades ago, hundreds more people were reported to have been injured as riot police broke up a mass rally near a key commercial district.

The death toll from Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster surpassed 600 Sunday after dozens of bodies were pulled from the wreckage of a nine-story building housing garment factories, the army said.

Lieutenant Imran Khan of the army control room, which was set up to coordinate the rescue operation following the disaster last month, told Agence France Presse that recovery efforts had gathered pace and the "death toll now stands at 610".

The death toll from Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster rose to 540 Saturday after 15 bodies were overnight pulled from the wreckage of an eight-storey building housing garment factories, the army said.

Major Sazzad Hossain of the army control room, which was set up to coordinate the rescue operation following the disaster last month, told Agence France Presse that recovery efforts had gathered pace and the "death toll now stands at 540".

The death toll from last week's collapse of a garment factory complex in Bangladesh passed 500 Friday as the country's prime minister said Western retailers had to share some of the blame for the tragedy.

With bulldozers now clawing away at the mountain of rubble at the site of last Wednesday's disaster, the number of bodies being recovered from the country's deadliest industrial disaster has been increasing sharply.

Bangladesh's war crimes court on Thursday indicted a Bangladesh-born British Muslim leader for his alleged role in the murder of top intellectuals during the country's 1971 liberation war.

"The court has taken into cognizance the charges of war crimes against Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin and issued a warrant to arrest him," International Crimes Tribunal registrar Nasiruddin Mahmud told Agence France Presse.

Bangladesh's textile industry reopened for business on Thursday following an eight-day shutdown triggered by the collapse of a factory compound that killed at least 429 people, an industry body said.

Millions of staff began returning to workplaces around the capital Dhaka which make clothing for top Western retailers such as Walmart and H&M, but which have been closed since the April 24 disaster.