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No fewer than 16 individuals have died after a enormous fire started at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the death toll could rise.

Sixteen bodies have been found but were charred unrecognizable, the fire department said.

Grief-stricken relatives gathered outside the four-storey factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area on Tuesday in looking for their loved ones still unaccounted for.

The inferno, which broke out at the factory around noon, was put out after multiple hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse remained ablaze, officials confirmed.

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

Emergency responders have not established which of the two buildings ignited initially.

Based on witnesses, the chemical warehouse stored chemical bleaching agents, synthetic polymers and industrial peroxide, all of which can accelerate fires. Synthetic materials also releases toxic fumes when ignited.

Law enforcement and armed forces are still trying to locate the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire department chief the fire service official briefed reporters.

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

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

Included in the crowd is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.

"When I learned of the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my child back," he expressed to journalists.

The catastrophic occurrence has yet again underscored the hazardous conditions plaguing Bangladesh's garment industry, which engages millions of workers and is a crucial provider of economic income for the nation.