At least 61 people are dead and more than 200 injured after a fire broke out during a new year's party at a Bangkok nightclub.

The blaze began just as revellers were counting down the last few seconds of 2008. However, there are conflicting reports about the cause.

Some witnesses said that fireworks inside the club started the fire, while other reports suggest that partygoers were waving sparklers, which may have ignited the blaze.

The party was to have been a grand send-off for the popular nightclub called Santika, which is set to move to a new location from its current spot in the Ekamai entertainment district.

The nightclub is popular with tourists, and it is estimated that about 35 foreigners were injured in the blaze, including Australians, Belgians, South Koreans and Americans.

One of the dead is a citizen of Singapore. Those who died succumbed to burns, smoke inhalation or injuries sustained during the stampede, as about 1,000 partygoers fled the inferno.

"Everybody was pushing against each other trying to get out to the front door as quickly as possible," Sompong Tritaweelap, who lives in an apartment behind the nightclub, told The Associated Press. "I saw people, particularly young girls, being pushed away and crushed underneath as others were stomping on them trying to get out."

According to police forensics expert Lieut. Col. Sujettana Sotthibandhu, it may take as long as a week to identify about 30 bodies that were badly charred in the fire.

A preliminary investigation into the cause of the blaze should be ready within three days, according to Pongsak Kasemsan, a senior Bangkok official.

Kasemsan also promised to crack down on unsafe conditions at clubs and other entertainment venues.

A preliminary inspection of the club's safety system was called "substandard" by police Lieut. Gen. Jongrak Jutanont.

After a dawn visit to the site of the blaze and then a stop at a nearby hospital, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said: "The question is why they let someone take fireworks inside the pub and light them up."

With files from The Associated Press