7-member committee formed to investigate secretariat fire
The committee will unearth the sources and the reasons behind the fire and if anyone was involved personally or professionally with the incident
The government has formed a seven-member committee and given it seven days to submit the findings after investigating the fire that gutted several floors of Building No 7 at the secretariat in Dhaka today (26 December).
According to an office order issued by the Cabinet Division this noon, Additional Secretary of Cabinet Division Mohammad Khaled Rahim was made head of the committee.
The other members included representatives from Public Security Division, disaster management and relief ministry, Local Government Division, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Fire Service and Civil Defence, and housing and public works ministry.
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The representatives must be of joint secretary level or higher, the office order said.
According to the order, the committee will unearth the sources and the reasons behind the fire and if anyone was involved personally or professionally with the incident.
The committee will also give recommendations to avert such incidents in the future, it added.
The office order stipulated that the committee will be able to co-opt one or more members if needed.
Earlier in the day, Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury had told reporters that a high-powered investigation committee will be formed to probe the fire.
Asked whether the fire in such a highly secured area could be an act of sabotage, he said, "Accidents can happen anywhere. I cannot comment without an investigation."
The first report about the fire breaking out in the secretariat's Building No 7 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.
As the fire's intensity grew, at least 19 units were dispatched there. The firefighters brought the flames under control at around 8:05am, Talha said later.
Building No 7 houses the ministries of finance, LGRD and cooperatives, youth and sports, post, telecommunication and information technology, labour and employment, and road transport and bridges, and different departments and divisions under them.
Talking to reporters outside the secretariat in the morning, Fire Service Director General (DG) Brig Gen Muhammad Jahed Kamal said more than 200 people worked together to douse the fire on four floors – six, seven, eight, and nine.
Although authorities are yet to determine the extent of damage, officials believe that the flames destroyed most of the important documents of multiple ministries across the four floors. No casualties have been reported yet.
