The probe body formed to investigate the massive fire at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) Cargo Village has submitted its report to Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus, concluding that the blaze was caused by an electrical short circuit.

“It was not an act of sabotage. The fire originated from an electrical short circuit,” Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam told reporters on Tuesday, citing the findings of the probe report.

Law Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul was also present at the media briefing held at the Foreign Service Academy.

Home Secretary Nasimul Gani handed over the probe report to the Chief Adviser and the matter was discussed at the Council of Advisers’ meeting.

The fire broke out at the HSIA Cargo Village on October 18.

7-member committee formed to probe Shahjalal Airport fire

The inquiry committee found that 48 small iron-cage offices had been set up inside the courier shed for various agencies, but the facility lacked basic fire safety measures such as fire alarms, smoke detectors, sprinklers and hydrants.

The report also noted that highly flammable materials, including cloth rolls wrapped in polythene, chemicals, compressed perfume bottles, body sprays, electronics, batteries and pharmaceutical raw materials, were stored haphazardly in violation of safety regulations.

The committee recorded oral and written testimonies from 97 witnesses and concluded that the fire started in the northwest corner of the extended courier shed due to an electrical arc that led to a short circuit.

Experts from Turkey, BUET, fire safety professionals, and CID forensic units contributed to determining the cause of the fire.