Road, LGRD, post ministries most damaged by secretariat fire

The fire at the secretariat's Building No 7 today (26 December) caused the most damage to the offices of three ministries – the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, the Ministry of LGRD and Cooperatives, and the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology.

 

According to officials, 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 No 7, suffered significant damage.

Several officials from these departments reported that 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.

Additionally, significant amounts of water were used in these areas to extinguish the flames, they say.

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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, according to the officials.

Although authorities are yet to determine the extent of damage, Fire Service and Civil Defence Director General (DG) Brig Gen Muhammad Jahed Kamal told reporters that he believed that the flames destroyed most of the important documents of multiple ministries on the eighth and ninth floors.

Labour Secretary AHM Shafiquzzaman entered his office at around 10am. Speaking to The Business Standard, he said, "It is not yet possible to provide detailed information on the damage. I just arrived. The assessment will be done, and details will be shared."

Nobel Dey, public relations officer of the Road Transport and Highways Division, said, "Our division has suffered significant damage in the fire. We will provide an assessment soon."

Kamrul Hasan, personal officer to the Secretary of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, informed that Adviser Nahid Islam and Secretary Muhammad Mushfiqur Rahman had inspected the damage to the ministry. Afterwards, both of them left.

A central committee has now been formed to assess the overall damage. If necessary, the ministry will conduct its own assessment afterwards, he said.

According to the Cabinet Division's website, the secretariat's Building No 7 houses six ministries and several key divisions. These include the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology, the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges.

The people involved in the conspiracy to sabotage the efforts of the interim government will not be spared under any circumstances, said LGRD and Cooperatives Adviser Asif Mahmud, after the massive fire gutted offices of multiple ministries.

"The extent of the damage from the fire remains unknown," he wrote in a Facebook post about the fire this morning.

"We were working on the embezzlement and corruption that took place in the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development, and Cooperatives in recent times. Evidence of the misappropriation of several thousand crore taka was also found," said Asif, who is also the youth and sports adviser.

As of 10am, not all entrance gates to the secretariat had been opened. Officials were entering their respective offices through the gate opposite the National Press Club.

Officials and employees of different ministries, departments and divisions at the secretariat started arriving to join work at around 8am but they had to wait outside as all the gates of the administration hub were locked by the security forces.

They were allowed to enter through Gate No 5 from around 9:15am.

As officials entered the office, many were heard questioning how a fire of this scale could break out in such a highly secured area, while some speculated whether it might have been an act of sabotage.

"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 at 3:45am.

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.