Tragic Clothing Factory Inferno in the South Asian nation Claims a Minimum of 16 Fatalities

A minimum of 16 people have died after a enormous fire erupted at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services stating that the number of victims could rise.

16 bodies have been found but were incinerated unrecognizable, the fire department said.

Distraught relatives assembled outside the four-storey factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on Tuesday in looking for their family members still not found.

The blaze, which broke out at the factory around midday, was extinguished after three hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse continued to burn, authorities said.

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

Fire department authorities have not established which of the two buildings ignited initially.

Based on bystanders, the chemical warehouse housed chemical bleaching agents, plastic materials and hydrogen peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Synthetic materials also releases toxic fumes when combusted.

Police and military officers are still attempting to find the owners of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the fire service official briefed the media.

An investigation on whether the warehouse was operating legally is also in progress, he added.

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

Present at the scene is a man searching desperately for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.

"When I heard about the fire, I rushed here. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my child back," he expressed to journalists.

The devastating event has yet again emphasized the safety concerns plaguing Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which engages millions of workers and is a crucial provider of export earnings for the South Asian economy.