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A minimum of 16 persons have perished after a enormous fire started at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with authorities cautioning that the fatality count could rise.

16 bodies have been recovered but were charred impossible to identify, the fire service said.

Distraught relatives converged outside the four-level factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on Tuesday in seeking their family members still missing.

The fire, which broke out at the factory around midday, was put out after multiple hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, emergency services said.

As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been entirely put out, journalistic accounts said.

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

Based on bystanders, the chemical warehouse contained industrial bleaches, plastic and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Plastic also releases toxic fumes when combusted.

Law enforcement and armed forces are still attempting to find the owners of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief the fire service official informed journalists.

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

Tearful family members stood outside the burned buildings, many of them clutching photographs of their missing relatives.

Among them is a man searching desperately for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.

"When I heard about the fire, I came running. But I still haven't found her... I just want my daughter back," he stated to news media.

The catastrophic occurrence has yet again underscored the security issues plaguing Bangladesh's clothing sector, which engages numerous of workers and is a crucial contributor to economic income for the South Asian economy.