Secretariat fire: Accident or sabotage?
Navy official says the fire may have been set deliberately
Highlights:
- Fire damages building 7 of the Bangladesh Secretariat on 26 December, with speculation of sabotage
- Firefighter Md Shoyanur Jaman Noyon dies in hit-and-run during the response
- Seven-member committee will investigate the fire and submit findings within seven days
A fire broke out in the early hours on Thursday (26 December) at the Bangladesh Secretariat in Dhaka, severely damaging several floors of Building 7 and sparking widespread speculation about its origin.
It took 19 firefighting units around six hours to bring the flames under control and 10 hours to completely douse them, according to firefighters.
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"The first report about the fire breaking out in the secretariat came at 1:52am. Several firefighting units reached the scene and started fighting the flames at 1:54am," Fire Service and Civil Defence media cell officer Talha Bin Jasim told The Business Standard.
The firefighters brought the flames under control at around 8:05am, Talha said.
While no casualties were reported from the fire itself, Shoyanur Jaman Noyon, 24, a firefighter from Tejgaon fire station was killed while on duty. He was crossing the road to connect the water pipe with the pump when a truck ran over him.
The incident has triggered widespread speculation on social media and within political circles, with some suggesting it may have been a deliberate act of sabotage. Firefighters, government officials, even advisers have expressed concerns, raising questions about the nature and timing of the incident.
The fire took place at a time when the Secretariat had been seeing much tension in recent weeks and amid the interim government's investigations into the corruption that took place during the 15-year rule of the Awami League government.
We were working on the embezzlement and corruption that took place in the LGRD ministry in recent times. Evidence of the misappropriation of several thousand crore taka was also found
The Road Transport and Highways Division on the eighth floor, along with the Posts and Telecommunications Division and the Local Government Division on the seventh floor of Building 7, suffered significant damage, according to officials.
They said these floors experienced the most intense fire, resulting in the destruction of office documents, furniture, and equipment. The fire also damaged the power and internet systems.
The sixth, eighth, and ninth floors also sustained damage. Officials from the ministries and the fire service are jointly assessing the extent of the losses. The ministries will soon provide detailed reports on the damage.
Act of arson?
Talking to reporters outside the secretariat this morning, Senior Chief Petty Officer of Bangladesh Navy Mohammad Aminul Islam said, "It is not due to a short circuit; the fire may have been set deliberately."
He added, "Our navy team worked here. The incident doesn't seem to be caused by a short circuit. It feels like it was deliberately started at multiple spots. Typically, a short circuit originates from a single spot, but in this case, it appears to have occurred in several places."
The fire likely originated in three spots at once, said Fire Service and Civil Defence Director General Brig Gen Muhammad Jahed Kamal, while suspecting that an electrical short circuit could be the cause of the fire.
"We have learned that flames were seen breaking out in three spots simultaneously. While this might indicate an electrical short circuit or sparking, we can't confirm anything until a detailed investigation is completed."
He added, "It's possible that the fire originated from interior decorations and spread through electrical lines. It's possible but we are not saying that is what happened here. Preliminary investigation has not determined the exact cause yet. We will confirm after thorough checks on all floors."
LGRD and Cooperatives Adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan said the people involved in the conspiracy to sabotage the efforts of the interim government will not be spared under any circumstances.
"We were working on the embezzlement and corruption that took place in the LGRD ministry in recent times. Evidence of the misappropriation of several thousand crore taka was also found," he wrote in a Facebook post.
Sarjis Alam, general secretary of the July Shaheed Smriti Foundation, claimed that loyalists of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, embedded within the Secretariat, orchestrated the fire to destroy incriminating records of theft, embezzlement, and corruption.
"Over the past 16 years, a significant portion of bureaucrats were among the key stakeholders in the syndicate supporting the Awami League. Hasina relied on them to consolidate her grip on power in the country," he wrote in a Facebook post.
Meanwhile, during a visit to the Secretariat after the incident, it was observed that officials were discussing potential causes.
One said, "This was deliberate - rising crime rates, including murders and arson, reflect a lack of government control. Now, the fire at the Secretariat shows the government's failure to protect citizens and assets."
Another speculated it was an effort to destroy corruption evidence.
A third official disagreed, saying, "Sensitive documents are now digital and not stored in one place. If there were critical files, they wouldn't have been left here for months. The real issue is security lapses."
However, in another discussion, a maintenance engineer from one of the ministries suggested the fire might have originated from an electrical fault.
To this, an official questioned, "Could an electrical issue simultaneously affect both sides of the building?" The maintenance engineer replied, "It's possible."
The Secretariat is heavily monitored with CCTV cameras across its premises. Security, once managed by police and Ansar forces, is now jointly handled by the police and military.
Given the level of security, many officials doubt the possibility of an external entity executing such an act. They believe it is more likely to be an accident or, if it was indeed sabotage, it must have originated from within.
Primary report in 3 days
The government has formed a committee to investigate the fire, said a Cabinet Division directive. The eight-member committee is headed by Nasimul Ghani, senior secretary of the home ministry.
The Cabinet Division initially announced a seven-member investigation committee led by Additional Secretary Mohammad Khaled Rahim at around 3:30pm. However, this committee was scrapped around 7:30pm.
"We want a thorough and extensive investigation. The government is giving the highest importance to the matter," Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan told the media.
The committee is expected to submit a preliminary report by 30 December, with the full report due within the next 10 working days. The committee may co-opt additional members.
Besides, two more committees have been formed to assess the damages to the Labour and Employment Ministry's documents in the fire incident.
A committee will assess the damages to the ministry's documents and important records, while another will determine the extent of damage to the ministry's assets.
