Authorities urge calm after fire near Rooppur nuclear plant

Officials say the fire started in a pile of discarded wood outside the compound and was quickly brought under control

Officials from the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Project have urged the public not to be misled by misinformation or rumours surrounding a recent fire that broke out near the plant in Pabna.

In a statement issued on Thursday night, Saikat Ahmed, senior scientific information officer for the plant's construction project, said the fire started in a pile of discarded wooden waste outside the plant's boundary wall and was brought under control within 40 minutes.

No damage was caused to the project and operations were unaffected, he added.

Earlier on Thursday, Sharful Ahsan Bhuiyan, assistant director of the Pabna Fire Service, had reported the fire.

According to the project authorities, the incident occurred at 12:20pm near an artificial canal built to maintain water flow from the Padma and Ichhamati rivers, while workers were clearing dumped wooden waste.

A few workers from Imamul Enterprise, who were on site, immediately informed the project’s control room. The control room quickly notified the project’s own fire unit, the Rooppur Modern Fire Station, and the Green City Fire Station, who jointly extinguished the flames.