PESHAWAR: The chances of pulling more bodies from the scene of Pakistan's second-worst bombing all but disappeared on Saturday despite the hopes of relatives still looking for loved ones' remains.

The top official in northwestern Peshawar city said there was little chance of recovering the remains of 16 people listed as missing after Wednesday's market bombing that killed more than 100 people.

'In our opinion (the) bodies of 16 missing people were reduced to ashes as the fire engulfed the buildings and shops,' Sahibzada Mohammad Anis told AFP.

Still, relatives continued to shuttle between the hospital and the bomb site hoping to locate their loved ones.

'I know they are dead but can somebody tell me where I can find their bodies?' said Waqar Ahmad, weeping as he held photographs of his missing mother and father.

They were shopping for clothes to wear at Ahmad's wedding when a car bomb triggered a huge fire and gutted shops in the market, known for its congested lanes.

'I got the dead body of my sister but I am still searching for my parents,' Ahmad said.

The bombing was the second-most deadly in the country's history after twin blasts targeted former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in October 2007 and killed at least 139 people. Bhutto survived but died in a separate attack two months later.

Wednesday's bombing underscored the gravity of attacks that have killed around 2,400 people in two years.

Abdul Qadir, 60, has been making daily visits to the market rubble and then the hospital hoping to find his son.

'My son was sitting in his shop. I know he is dead but it is a must for my satisfaction to see his dead body,' Qadir said.

The father of another shopkeeper had a similar hope.

'Me and my second son come daily to see the debris. We think we may find him in the rubble,' Tariq Ali said.

That is not likely, said Anis, the civic official.

'It is a tragedy but we should accept this,' he said.

'Finding the dead bodies of these missing people is equal to impossible.'