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A minimum of 16 persons have perished after a enormous fire erupted at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with officials cautioning that the death toll could rise.

16 bodies have been retrieved but were burned impossible to identify, the fire department said.

Grief-stricken relatives gathered outside the multi-story factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in seeking their dear ones still unaccounted for.

The fire, which erupted at the factory around noon, was put out after several hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse kept burning, authorities said.

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

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

Per bystanders, the chemical warehouse housed bleaching powder, synthetic polymers and industrial peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Plastic also emits poisonous gases when ignited.

Police and military officers are still attempting to find the owners of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head the fire service official told the media.

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

Crying family members gathered outside the burned buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their lost relatives.

Included in the crowd is a man looking frantically for his daughter, his family member.

"When I heard about the fire, I came running. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my loved one back," he expressed to journalists.

The catastrophic occurrence has once again underscored the security issues plaguing Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which employs numerous of workers and is a crucial contributor to foreign revenue for the South Asian economy.