A massive fire continued to rage through the cargo village of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Saturday afternoon (October 18), forcing authorities to suspend all flight operations as dense black smoke spread across the sky.

The fire broke out around 2:15 pm and intensified rapidly, officials said. Despite hours of joint efforts, firefighters had yet to bring the blaze under control by late afternoon. A total of 36 fire service units were working at the scene, joined by the Army, Navy, Air Force, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), police, Ansar, and Civil Aviation personnel.

“The fire at the airport’s cargo village is being handled jointly by our fire service, the Air Force, and Civil Defence teams,” said Group Captain SM Ragib Samad, the airport’s executive director, in an audio message. He urged journalists to avoid calling emergency responders during the crisis, saying, “We are managing an emergency. Please give us space to handle it safely.”

Several people, including members of the Fire Service, were injured while battling the flames and were taken to hospitals, said Tahla Bin Jasim from the Fire Service’s media cell. The cause of the fire and the extent of damage remain unknown.

The Bangladesh Navy and Air Force joined the firefighting effort alongside the airport’s own fire service and the Civil Aviation Authority, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

The airport authority temporarily suspended aircraft movements after the fire spread through part of the cargo village, said Masudul Hasan Masud, spokesperson for the airport’s executive director.

The blaze initially started in one section of the cargo village before spreading quickly across adjoining areas, witnesses said. The airport authority confirmed that flight operations were suspended as a precaution, though passenger terminals remained unaffected.

“Alternative arrangements have been made to ensure safety and minimize disruption,” an airport official said, adding that flights would resume once the fire was fully contained.

The cause of the fire remains unknown, and no casualties have been reported so far. Firefighters and military personnel were continuing efforts to bring the situation under control as of late afternoon.