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A minimum of 16 people have died after a massive fire broke out at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with officials cautioning that the fatality count could rise.

A total of sixteen bodies have been found but were incinerated unrecognizable, the firefighters stated.

Grief-stricken relatives converged outside the four-level factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on that day in looking for their family members still not found.

The fire, which started at the factory around noon, was extinguished after several hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse kept burning, authorities confirmed.

Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, media reports said.

Emergency responders have not determined which of the two buildings was the origin point.

According to bystanders, the chemical warehouse stored chemical bleaching agents, plastic materials and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Synthetic materials also produces hazardous smoke when burned.

Security personnel are still searching for the owners of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the department director told reporters.

An inquiry on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also currently underway, he added.

Weeping family members waited outside the burned buildings, many of them holding photographs of their lost relatives.

Among them is a man looking frantically for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.

"When I heard about the fire, I rushed here. But I still haven't found her... I just want my child back," he expressed to news media.

The tragic incident has another time underscored the hazardous conditions plaguing Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which employs countless of workers and is a major source of export earnings for the South Asian economy.