1. Bangladesh

Flights resume at Dhaka airport after massive cargo village fire brought under control

Authorities say no casualties; investigation underway into cause of blaze that halted air traffic for nearly seven hours.

Flights at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport resumed on Saturday night (October 18) after a massive fire that broke out earlier in the day at the airport’s cargo village was brought fully under control, authorities said.

The fire was contained at around 9:18 pm, nearly seven hours after it started in the afternoon, according to the Fire Service and Civil Defense Department. The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism confirmed in a statement at 8:40 pm that the blaze had been extinguished through “swift and coordinated efforts” of fire service units and airport authorities, adding that “no casualties have been reported.”


“Close coordination between the Fire Service and airport authorities ensured that the fire was completely extinguished,” the statement said. “All flight operations will resume from 9 pm. The adviser to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism is personally monitoring the situation at the airport and coordinating activities with all relevant agencies.”

Flights restarted with a Fly Dubai aircraft from Dubai landing at 9:06 pm, marking the first arrival since operations were suspended earlier in the day. Other flights, including those operated by US-Bangla Airlines and IndiGo, were preparing for takeoff, said Group Captain SM Ragib Samad, the airport’s executive director.

Sk Bashir Uddin, adviser to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, visited the site in the evening


The ministry added that an official investigation has begun to determine the source of the fire and to take preventive measures to avoid similar incidents in the future.

Tarikul Islam, the ministry’s information and public relations officer, said that Sk Bashir Uddin, adviser to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, was on-site monitoring the response. “The ministry is closely coordinating with all relevant agencies to ensure proper action,” he said.

The fire, which began around 2:15 pm in a section of the airport’s cargo village where imported goods are stored, forced authorities to suspend all flights at Bangladesh’s main international gateway. Though the blaze was intense, officials confirmed that it caused no fatalities.

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