Smoke triggers panic at Dhaka airport, a month after cargo fire

Fire Service says the fire has been found to have started in discarded waste

Passengers at Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport have been thrown into panic after smoke appeared near the departure terminal, a month after a major blaze at the airport’s Cargo Village.

On Monday at 3:15pm, smoke was spotted outside the Terminal No. 1, said Fire Service duty officer Rozina Akter.

She added that a pile of rubbish had caught fire and a Fire Service unit was sent, though they ultimately did not need to work at the scene.

Airport officials suspect the fire started after someone discarded a cigarette between the terminal building’s two walls, igniting the rubbish.

The smoke briefly alarmed passengers, but swift response by airport’s Civil Aviation fire unit kept the situation under control.

On Oct 18, a fire had broken out at the import cargo complex at the airport.

It was brought under control around 9pm that night but fully extinguished only after 27 hours.

The Exporters Association of Bangladesh estimated the damage at about Tk 120 billion.

Even a month after the fire, operations at the Cargo Village have not fully returned to normal.