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A minimum of 16 individuals have died after a massive fire erupted at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with officials cautioning that the death toll could climb.

16 bodies have been recovered but were burned impossible to identify, the firefighters stated.

Heartbroken relatives assembled outside the four-level factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on that day in search of their family members still unaccounted for.

The blaze, which erupted at the factory around lunchtime, was brought under control after multiple hours. But an neighboring chemical warehouse remained ablaze, authorities confirmed.

Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, journalistic accounts reported.

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

According to eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse housed industrial bleaches, plastic materials and chemical peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also produces hazardous smoke when burned.

Law enforcement and armed forces are still attempting to find the owners of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief the department director told the media.

An probe on whether the warehouse was functioning with proper authorization is also currently underway, he mentioned.

Crying family members waited outside the burned buildings, many of them holding photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.

Present at the scene is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, his loved one.

"When I heard about the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still haven't found her... I just want my loved one back," he stated to reporters.

The catastrophic occurrence has once again highlighted the hazardous conditions plaguing Bangladesh's clothing sector, which employs millions of workers and is a significant provider of foreign revenue for the country.