Dhaka, Dec 31 (V7N) – A fire that broke out in the Secretariat last week originated from an electric spark, according to Maksood Helali, a member of the investigation committee formed to probe the blaze and former professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Buet.
The expert made the statement during a press briefing in front of the State Guest House Jamuna on Tuesday evening.


Helali said: "With the help of various organizations, we have been able to prepare a specific report. While we say it is specific, we will conduct more tests both locally and internationally to further enrich the report. This will make our findings more certain. Initially, we have found that the results before and after obtaining the video footage are the same."

"The fire originated between 1:32am and 1:39am. It did not start at a specific moment, but gradually over seven minutes through sparks. The area where the fire started gradually became hot, and the material there melted. Eventually, it reached ignition temperature," he added.

Helali continued: "The fire broke out after that. As the fire ignited, smoke appeared, and flames shot vertically upward. The smoke then spread westward due to a tunnel in the Secretariat. This may have created the illusion that there were fires in two places. In reality, the fire had a single source, but due to the wind direction and the building's design, it spread in two directions."

The investigation committee member also said: "The fire that started in roughly 12-14 minutes spread and intensified. Because it moved vertically upward, it became extremely difficult to extinguish.

"When the fire spread to the sixth floor, it could not be put out before reaching the seventh floor. Therefore, the fire service had to finish on the sixth floor before reaching the seventh floor. They had to do this at great risk to their lives. We have reviewed this information with the CID and others, and our calculations match 99% with the video evidence. We are initially confident that the fire started this way."

Meanwhile, members of the army’s explosive expert team, during a press briefing on the Secretariat fire, reported that no evidence of explosives was found at the scene.

END/MSS/AJ