Fire sparks at new building in Secretariat

"It was a small fire in the exhaust fan which was put out with just the extinguisher," says a Fire Service official

A fire has sparked in a new building of the Secretariat, the nerve centre of Bangladesh’s administration, stirring panic among officials and staff as they heard the fire alarm, saw smoke, and ran out of the building.

Smoke could be seen billowing out of the new building (Building No. 1) around 2:30pm on Sunday. Simultaneously, the fire alarm started going off across the building. The fire that started at the ninth floor was brought under control soon afterwards.

An official named Shafiqul Kabir told bdnews24.com, "I saw smoke coming out of the ninth floor a few minutes after the fire alarm went off. I realised what had happened and rushed downstairs immediately."

All gates to the Secretariat were closed down, apart from the main entrance, during the incident. The police officer on duty at gate No. 1 said, "A fire broke out inside the new building. No one can enter now."

Another staff member said, "Initially. We thought it could be smoke from cigarettes. Then we saw there was too much smoke.

“Everyone was leaving the building. No one can say what happened exactly."

Md Shahjahan Shikdar, spokesman for the Fire Service, said an exhaust fan in a room on the ninth floor got disconnected and caught on fire.

He told bdnews24.com, "Our (firefighting) vehicle went to the scene when informed. However, it was a small fire in the exhaust fan, which was put out with just the extinguisher.”