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No fewer than 16 persons have died after a huge fire broke out at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the death toll could climb.

Sixteen bodies have been recovered but were charred impossible to identify, the fire department reported.

Distraught relatives gathered outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in search of their family members still not found.

The blaze, which started at the factory around lunchtime, was extinguished after several hours. But an neighboring chemical warehouse kept burning, emergency services reported.

Until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) that day, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been entirely put out, news sources indicated.

Fire department authorities have not established which of the two buildings caught fire first.

Based on eyewitnesses, the chemical warehouse contained bleaching powder, plastic materials and industrial peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Plastic also releases poisonous gases when ignited.

Police and military officers are still trying to locate the operators of the factory and the warehouse, emergency services head the fire service official briefed the media.

An inquiry on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also in progress, he noted.

Weeping family members gathered outside the fire-damaged buildings, many of them grasping photographs of their lost relatives.

Among them is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, his family member.

"When I learned of the fire, I came running. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my daughter back," he told news media.

The tragic incident has another time emphasized the safety concerns affecting Bangladesh's garment industry, which provides jobs for millions of workers and is a significant contributor to foreign revenue for the country.