At least 40 people were killed and dozens more injured in an arson attack on a casino in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey Thursday, officials said.

According to the police, the attackers forced their way into the Casino Royale and sprayed petrol-like flammable liquid and set the house ablaze, trapping gamblers inside.

The death toll could climb further as more bodies were being pulled out, according to Adrian de la Garza, the prosecutor for Nuevo Leon state whose capital is Monterrey.

The attackers, about two dozens in number, had told the customers to leave but some of the gamblers were too terrified to get out.

Firefighters and rescuers had rushed to the scene, trying to put out the fire and find survivors, local TV footage shows.

Authorities believed drug gangs were behind the attack, as President Felipe Calderon rejected the attack as an "aberrant act of terror and barbarism" and vowed to continue the fight against the organized crime.

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