GD filed over fire in Bangladesh Bank offices

Bangladesh Bank has filed a general diary over a fire in its offices without mentioning the extent of the damage.

A fire service official heading the probe team said its report would be finalised in three days.

The general diary describes the fire but it does not say how it started on Thursday, said Motijheel Police station OC Omar Faruk.

Fires are 'usually caused from electrical faults' said Samarendra Nath Biswas, Fire Service's Dhaka zone deputy director and head of the probe committee.

The cause of the fire in the central bank's offices will be found following investigation, he told bdnews24.com.

“Probe committees usually take up to seven working days to find out the cause of fire and assess the damage but we will try to reveal the facts within three working days.”

At 9:28pm Thursday, a fire broke out on the 14th floor of the building which houses the central bank at Dhaka’s Motijheel. Twelve firefighting units managed to put out the flames at 10:34pm.

The floor houses the bank’s Foreign Exchange Policy Department. The bank authorities formed a three-member committee to assess the damage.

Abul Kalam Azad, a general manager of the bank, told bdnews24.com that the fire "could not cause major damage as it was doused in a short period".

Fire Service Director General Ali Ahmad told the media in front of the building around 11:30pm that 10 to 15 percent of the room was gutted.

"No computer server caught fire. But some files have been burnt," he added. 

Asked whether the files included any important documents, he said: "Bangladesh Bank officials are checking that."

Ali Ahmad said a UPS (uninterruptible power supply device) at the room might have caused the fire.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith, BB Governor Fazle Kabir, and top officials of the central bank rushed to the building after hearing the news. State Minister for Finance Abdul Mannan reached the spot around 11:45pm.