Sao Paulo - The collapse of the roof during services at a large Pentecostal church Sunday night in central Sao Paulo left at least nine people dead, authorities said Monday.

The failure of the structure left some 110 people injured, 19 of whom remained in hospital - one of them in very serious condition.

Seven women aged 15-80 died on site late Sunday, while two more women in their sixties died in hospital in the early hours of Monday as a consequence of severe wounds, the fire department said.

The accident happened just before 7 pm between two consecutive services. Some of the faithful were about to leave, while others were arriving for the next service. The church, which is a former cinema, can hold up to 2,000 people.

Fire department officials worked through the night to find remaining victims that could have been trapped in the rubble.

The area around the building was cordoned off.

The cause of the accident remained unclear.

Sao Paulo state Governor Jose Serra, who visited the site, said the accident was relatively lucky since the church was not full at the time.

According to the Rebirth in Christ religious community, only some 60 people were in the temple building at the time of the disaster. However, fire department officials said it could have been as high as 600.

Brazilian football star Kaka, currently playing club football for Milan, is one of the most prominent members of the congregation and indeed married his long-time girlfriend Caroline there in December 2005.

It is considered the second-largest Pentecostal church in Brazil. Globally, the religious organization has 2 million followers and some 1,500 buildings in countries like the United States, Argentina and Spain.

Church founder, former manager and current "apostle" Estevam Hernandes and his wife, "bishop" Sonia, were arrested in the US state of Florida in 2007. They were condemned to several months in jail for money laundering, and they still cannot leave the United States. They smuggled 56,000 dollars into the United States, hidden among other things inside a Bible.

Brazilian authorities are demanding the extradition of the couple, and intend to charge them with money laundering and with the creation of a criminal organization. They allegedly appropriated money from donations and illegally acquired millions of dollars in assets.

Both Hernandes and his wife spoke from the United States in the early hours of Monday.

"We are all totally horrified, sad and perplexed about the tragedy which happened Sunday, which claimed people's lives, caused injuries and brought so much fear," they said in a statement. (dpa)