JEROME SOCOLOVSKY
Associated Press Writer

ENSCHEDE, Netherlands (AP) -- Firefighters sprayed smoldering rubble as forensic teams searched today for bodily remains two days after explosions at a fireworks warehouse killed at least 20 people and injured 601 others.

A team of 144 people carried out house-to-house searches of a low-income neighborhood in Enschede, 85 miles east of Amsterdam, damaged by Saturday's explosions. They looked for clothing fragments, jewelry and any signs of life.

But Dick De Jong, head of Disaster Victim Identification team, wasn't optimistic that anyone would still be alive under the rubble.

``If you see what has happened and the state of the area, I'm afraid not,'' he said.

Firefighters first believed they were out on a routine operation when a blaze ignited Saturday afternoon in the downtown S.E. Fireworks warehouse, local media reported.

But their job turned into a nightmare when all 100 tons of explosives ignited, sending balls of fire into the air and leveling several city blocks. Four firefighters were among the dead.

Mayor Jan Mans said officials were still trying to track down 200 people from the neighborhood who had not answered pleas to report their whereabouts to City Hall.

Officials stressed that most of these people were not believed dead. They did not rule out that the death toll could rise further, but stuck to their estimate of 20 people dead after 15 bodies were recovered.

De Jong noted that the search effort had covered only four streets, less than 20 percent of the stricken area, after being hampered by intense heat.

Streets on the periphery of the damaged area were declared structurally sound and reopened, Police Chief Herman van Ruggen said. Many of the 2,500 residents began returning to their homes, many with shattered windows and missing roof shingles.

However, some people broke into a rage when they arrived only to find that their houses were in the inner restricted area and police turned them away.

``We thought we were going to be able to go home,'' said Aryan Curre, 45.

Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok cut short an official visit to Hungary because of the disaster. Kok said he would report to parliament Tuesday on the situation.

``A thorough investigation will have to take place to ascertain what happened, but our immediate concern is to help those in need,'' Kok told reporters in Budapest, Hungary.

Fire Chief Aad Groos said arson had not been ruled out, especially because three businesses had burned down in the northern area of Enschede in the previous weeks.

The owners of the warehouse contacted authorities through their lawyer Sunday night and promised to cooperate in the investigation, Deputy Mayor Eric Helder said.

Many people in this city of 150,000 knew someone in the affected area.

Luuk Nijenhuis, 46, a municipal employee, said his sister and brother-in-law lived in the neighborhood and had to be evacuated after initially thinking they were seeing a pyrotechnics show.

``I phoned and they were in total panic,'' he said. ``They had set their chairs up in a row to watch the fireworks.''

Dutch television reported this morning that firefighters were contending with an arson attack in another part of the city, but the fire was quickly extinguished.

Crowds lined up to sign condolence books set up at 10 locations around the city. Children at the three schools in the area were given a day off, while special psychological counseling was scheduled at other schools.