Importers fear losses in hundreds of crores as Dhaka airport fire damage unfolds
Representatives of C&F firms gathered outside the import cargo village, where plumes of smoke were still visible around noon today
Importers are struggling to determine the extent of losses caused by the massive fire that broke out yesterday (18 October) at the cargo village of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.
This morning (19 October), many importers scrambled to get in touch with their clearing and forwarding (C&F) agents to learn whether their consignments were damaged in the blaze.
Representatives of C&F firms gathered outside the import cargo village, where plumes of smoke were still visible around noon today, 15 hours after the fire had been brought under control following nearly six hours of effort the previous night.
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Alal Ahmed, a representative of C&F agent Ruhul International, told The Business Standard, "We have learned that our firm's goods worth almost $40,000 were completely burnt.
"The importing company is continuously calling to check on the situation."
Mosharraf Hossain, representative of another C&F agent, SR International, said, "We had various types of spare parts for Vivo mobile phones, totalling almost 10,000 kilograms. There were also goods from other companies. We have received news that everything has been burnt.
"In that case, our loss will be approximately Tk100 crore."
Many C&F representatives have been communicating with importers, sharing updates as they received them from airport authorities.
Kazi Azmal Hossain, a leader of the C&F Agents Association, said that around 4,000 Bills of Entry, or import product consignments, arrive daily through Dhaka airport.
Importers expect massive financial losses following the devastating fire.
The fire, which began around 2pm yesterday near Gate 8 of the cargo village, spread quickly through a section storing imported goods.
Flight operations at the airport were suspended for seven hours as firefighters worked to contain the blaze.
According to airport authorities, flight operations resumed around 9pm last night and have since continued as usual.
