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A minimum of 16 persons have perished after a enormous fire broke out at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with officials cautioning that the number of victims could rise.

A total of sixteen bodies have been recovered but were incinerated impossible to identify, the firefighters reported.

Grief-stricken relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on Tuesday in looking for their family members still missing.

The inferno, which broke out at the factory around midday, was put out after several hours. But an neighboring chemical warehouse kept burning, officials reported.

Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, news sources indicated.

Emergency responders have not determined which of the two buildings caught fire first.

According to witnesses, the chemical warehouse stored bleaching powder, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Plastic also emits hazardous smoke when ignited.

Law enforcement and armed forces are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury told the media.

An investigation on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also currently underway, he added.

Weeping family members stood outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their missing relatives.

Included in the crowd is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, his loved one.

"When I was informed of the fire, I rushed here. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my child back," he told reporters.

The tragic incident has another time emphasized the hazardous conditions facing Bangladesh's garment industry, which employs numerous of workers and is a crucial provider of economic income for the South Asian economy.