Probe finds Shahjalal Airport cargo fire triggered by ‘electrical fault’, not sabotage

Disaster management advisor submits the investigation report to the chief advisor

An investigation into last month’s Cargo Village fire at Shahjalal International Airport has found that a short circuit sparked the blaze, not an act of sabotage.

Disaster Management Advisor Faruk E Azam submitted a report to the chief advisor on Tuesday.

Later, Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam detailed the findings at a news conference at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.

He said, “This was not a sabotage”, explaining that the blaze began in the extended section of the courier shed, between several small cages used by courier agencies along the north-west corner.

According to the report, there were 48 small iron cages allocated to different courier services in that section.

Inside the shed, there were no fire alarms, smoke detectors or fire hydrants.

The probe found that highly flammable materials, including polythene-wrapped fabric rolls, chemicals such as perfume and body spray, electronic items, batteries, and raw materials for medicines, had been stored haphazardly without any adherence to safety rules.

The fire broke out at 2:09pm on Oct 18, and became visible by 2:15pm, first noticed by an Ansar member, according to the report.

The Civil Aviation Authority’s first fire engine arrived at 2:22pm, followed by the second at 2:25pm. The first unit from Uttara Fire Station reached the scene at 2:50pm, by then the inferno was burning at around 1,500°C.

“Firefighters were hampered by multiple layers of locked iron grills, the absence of hydrants, unknown chemical substances, limited water supply, structural collapse and falling debris,” the press secretary said.

Investigators found that seven major fires had occurred in the area since 2013, and that the Civil Aviation Authority lacked adequate institutional capacity for fire prevention or response.

The report recommended major reforms: establishing a separate airport maintenance and operations authority, limiting CAAB to a regulatory role, restricting Biman to only flight operations, assigning ground handling to a qualified operator, setting up a specialised fire station under CAAB, and relocating hazardous goods and chemical warehouses away from the Cargo Village.