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A minimum of 16 people have perished after a enormous fire broke out at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services warning that the fatality count could rise.

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

Grief-stricken relatives assembled outside the four-storey factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on Tuesday in looking for their family members still missing.

The inferno, which broke out at the factory around lunchtime, was brought under control after three hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse remained ablaze, officials said.

Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, news sources reported.

Fire service officials have not ascertained which of the two buildings ignited initially.

Based on witnesses, the chemical warehouse contained chemical bleaching agents, synthetic polymers and industrial peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Synthetic materials also produces toxic fumes when combusted.

Police and military officers are still searching for the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury told reporters.

An inquiry on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also ongoing, he noted.

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

Present at the scene is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his loved one.

"When I learned of the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my child back," he expressed to journalists.

The catastrophic occurrence has yet again underscored the hazardous conditions plaguing Bangladesh's garment industry, which provides jobs for millions of workers and is a crucial source of economic income for the country.