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No fewer than 16 people have perished after a enormous fire started at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services stating that the death toll could rise.

Sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were incinerated impossible to identify, the fire department said.

Grief-stricken relatives assembled outside the four-storey factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on that day in seeking their loved ones still missing.

The blaze, which broke out at the factory around noon, was put out after three hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse remained ablaze, officials confirmed.

As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, media reports indicated.

Fire service officials have not ascertained which of the two buildings caught fire first.

Per witnesses, the chemical warehouse contained bleaching powder, synthetic polymers and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also produces poisonous gases when burned.

Law enforcement and armed forces are still trying to locate the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury told reporters.

An probe on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also in progress, he noted.

Crying family members stood outside the charred buildings, many of them holding photographs of their lost relatives.

Present at the scene is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, his family member.

"When I was informed of the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still haven't found her... I just want my child back," he told journalists.

The catastrophic occurrence has yet again emphasized the safety concerns plaguing Bangladesh's clothing sector, which engages numerous of workers and is a major source of export earnings for the South Asian economy.