Devastating Apparel Factory Inferno in the South Asian nation Takes a Minimum of 16 Fatalities

No fewer than 16 individuals have lost their lives after a massive fire started at a apparel factory in Bangladesh, with emergency services cautioning that the death toll could rise.

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

Distraught relatives converged outside the four-level factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on that day in seeking their dear ones still unaccounted for.

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

As late as 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) yesterday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, media reports reported.

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

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

Security personnel are still searching for the proprietors of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director the department director informed reporters.

An investigation on whether the warehouse was running according to regulations is also ongoing, he added.

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

Included in the crowd is a man searching desperately for his daughter, Farzana Akhter.

"When I learned of the fire, I hurried to the scene. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my loved one back," he expressed to reporters.

The tragic incident has another time emphasized the safety concerns facing Bangladesh's clothing sector, which provides jobs for countless of workers and is a crucial provider of export earnings for the South Asian economy.