Deadly Garment Factory Fire in the South Asian nation Takes at Least 16 Fatalities

A minimum of 16 individuals have died after a enormous fire erupted at a garment factory in Bangladesh, with officials cautioning that the death toll could increase.

Sixteen bodies have been retrieved but were charred beyond recognition, the fire department reported.

Heartbroken relatives converged outside the four-storey factory in the Mirpur district of Dhaka on Tuesday in looking for their family members still not found.

The fire, which erupted at the factory around midday, was extinguished after three hours. But an nearby chemical warehouse continued to burn, emergency services reported.

Up until 21:00 local time (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday, the fire at the chemical warehouse had not been fully extinguished, journalistic accounts indicated.

Fire service officials have not established which of the two buildings was the origin point.

Per witnesses, the chemical warehouse contained chemical bleaching agents, plastic and industrial peroxide, all of which can intensify fires. Plastic also produces toxic fumes when burned.

Security personnel are still trying to locate the operators of the factory and the warehouse, fire service director Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury told journalists.

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

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

Included in the crowd is a man seeking urgently for his daughter, his loved one.

"When I was informed of the fire, I came running. But I still cannot locate her... I just want my child back," he expressed to news media.

The devastating event has another time highlighted the security issues plaguing Bangladesh's apparel manufacturing, which engages millions of workers and is a major source of export earnings for the country.