The death toll rose rapidly from an initial count of 20 after rescuers recovered dozens more bodies from the debris of the destroyed restaurant and neighbouring structures in the town of Petlawad in Jhabua district.
"There are 104 confirmed deaths at the moment. Eighty-two postmortems have been carried out and 22 are still pending," M. L. Gond, an inspector in charge of Jhabua's police control room, told AFP by phone.
"My information is that 60 people are injured, but the number could be higher," he said.