Fire at Secretariat was ignited by electrical fault, says inquiry panel in initial report
Staff Correspondent
The devastating fire that broke out late at night in the Secretariat originated from an electrical “fault”, according to the investigation committee's preliminary findings.
No evidence of other causes or individual involvement was found.
On Tuesday evening, Nasimul Gani, senior secretary of home ministry and head of the committee tasked with investigating the cause of the fire, shared the findings after submitting their preliminary report.
He said, "The fire at Building No. 7 of the Secretariat started due to a 'loose connection' in the electrical system."
Explaining the investigation, he said multiple teams were involved, including a specialist team from BUET, Fire Service experts, the army’s bomb squad and their specialised dogs from the dog squad, and experts from police’s CID.
“All of them collectively concluded that the fire originated from an electrical loose connection. This is the preliminary finding of our investigation. We found no involvement of any individual in this incident,” Gani added.
He disclosed these details during a press briefing in front of the State Guest House Jamuna on Tuesday evening.
The eight-strong investigation committee, formed to probe the fire at the Secretariat, submitted their initial report to the chief advisor at 5pm on Tuesday. Later in the evening, the secretary briefed reporters.
The fire, which broke out in the small hours of Thursday, burned offices of five ministries located from the sixth to the ninth floors. Most of the documents on the eighth and ninth floors were destroyed.
