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At least 16 people have perished after a massive fire started at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with officials stating that the death toll could climb.

Sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were burned unrecognizable, the fire service said.

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

The inferno, which started at the factory around noon, was extinguished after several hours. But an neighboring chemical warehouse remained ablaze, authorities said.

Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been completely doused, journalistic accounts indicated.

Fire department authorities have not established which of the two buildings was the origin point.

According to witnesses, the chemical warehouse housed bleaching powder, synthetic polymers and chemical peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also produces hazardous smoke when ignited.

Law enforcement and armed forces are still attempting to find the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the department director informed reporters.

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

Tearful family members gathered outside the charred buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their unaccounted for relatives.

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

"When I heard about the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my loved one back," he expressed to news media.

The catastrophic occurrence has once again emphasized the hazardous conditions affecting Bangladesh's garment industry, which employs numerous of workers and is a crucial contributor to foreign revenue for the South Asian economy.