A five-member committee has been formed to investigate the fire incident at the cargo shed of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA), with instructions to submit an initial report by 9:30am on Saturday.
State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism M Rashiduzzaman Millat made the announcement while inspecting the fire-affected cargo shed late Friday night.
He said the committee would determine the exact cause of the blaze as well as assess the extent of damage caused by the incident.
Based on preliminary discussions with on-site personnel, the fire is suspected to have originated from a short circuit.
However, the state minister stressed that the underlying cause of such electrical faults must also be properly investigated.
He also pointed to previous incidents where short circuits were cited as the cause of fires.
“If short circuits continue to occur, there must be some negligence involved, and we have to acknowledge that,” he said, adding that accountability would be ensured if any lapses were identified.
The state minister further said a full-scale investigation committee would be formed after reviewing the initial report due Saturday morning.
He warned of strict action against anyone found responsible for negligence, in order to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.
The fire broke out around 11:15pm on Friday in a storage area of the cargo shed near Gate No. 9 of the airport.
Two units of the Fire Service and Civil Defence brought the blaze under control within approximately 14 minutes, fully extinguishing it by 11:38pm.
Although the incident did not cause significant damage, it raised concern among airport authorities due to its location within a sensitive operational zone.
Officials also recalled a major fire at the HSIA cargo village complex on 18 October last year, which took around six and a half hours to extinguish.
That incident required 37 units from 13 fire stations and led to a temporary suspension of all flight operations.
In contrast, Friday night’s fire was quickly contained, and airport operations continued normally without any disruption to flight schedules.
