Experts from UK, Australia, Turkey, China invited to probe Dhaka airport fire: Home adviser
"The fire service members at the airport did not fail to extinguish the fire. If they had failed, how would the fire have been put out? If they had not acted, the fire would have spread everywhere," says the adviser.
The government has invited four countries to investigate whether there was any mismanagement behind a recent fire at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport's (HSIA) cargo village, Home Affairs Adviser Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said today (25 October).
"England was invited first, followed by Australia, Turkey, and China. Expert teams from these countries will arrive to determine the exact cause of the fire," the adviser said while speaking at a press briefing at the airport around 11:45am.
Addressing questions about the airport fire service's performance, Jahangir said, "The fire service members at the airport did not fail to extinguish the fire. If they had failed, how would the fire have been put out? If they had not acted, the fire would have spread everywhere."
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When asked why it took nearly five minutes for the fire service inside the airport to reach the spot, he responded, "An accident is an accident. The units inside the airport arrived within four minutes, while the other fire brigade units arrived in phases within 20 minutes.
"As the area contained a large amount of flammable materials, the fire spread quickly, making it difficult and time-consuming to extinguish."
He added that the presence of chemicals in the airport warehouses contributed to the delay in controlling the blaze.
At the same briefing, Jahangir also said discussions were held on reducing passport fees for expatriate workers.
"You know, our remittance fighters face hardships at every step. Discussions have been held to find ways to reduce passport fees for them," he said.
On 18 October, a massive fire broke out in the cargo area of Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA), prompting the Fire Service to dispatch 37 units to the scene and the airport authorities to suspend flight operations.
Just six days after receiving a perfect 100% score for cargo security from the UK's Department for Transport (DfT), Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) was struck by a massive fire that severely damaged its cargo village on October 18.
The blaze, which took nearly seven hours for a multi-agency team including the army and navy to control, has raised serious questions about the infrastructure safety at the critical aviation hub.
The irony of the timing immediately drew scrutiny, as the DfT inspection in August had praised Caab's preparedness, granting HSIA an overall 93% score and perfect marks in "Additional measures assessment for cargo."
