Devastating Clothing Factory Fire in the South Asian nation Takes a Minimum of 16 Victims

A minimum of 16 people have died after a massive fire started at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with authorities stating that the death toll could climb.

A total of sixteen bodies have been found but were incinerated unrecognizable, the fire service stated.

Distraught relatives assembled outside the four-level factory in Mirpur, Dhaka on Tuesday in looking for their loved ones still not found.

The inferno, which erupted at the factory around midday, was brought under control after multiple hours. But an adjacent chemical warehouse kept burning, officials said.

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

Fire service officials have not established which of the two buildings caught fire first.

Per bystanders, the chemical warehouse housed chemical bleaching agents, plastic materials and chemical peroxide, all of which can worsen fires. Polymer products also produces toxic fumes when ignited.

Law enforcement and armed forces are still attempting to find the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the department director told journalists.

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

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

Included in the crowd is a man searching desperately for his daughter, his loved one.

"When I learned of the fire, I came running. But I still have been unable to find her... I just want my child back," he expressed to news media.

The devastating event has another time highlighted the hazardous conditions plaguing Bangladesh's garment industry, which employs numerous of workers and is a major contributor to foreign revenue for the South Asian economy.