A major fire has broken out at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) on Saturday, temporarily halting all flights, reports said.
FULL REPORT | WATCH | Massive fire at Dhaka airport; which flights were affected?
It was around 3:30 pm that the emergency at the country’s main airport was officially confirmed by the authorities. First responders were using microphones to disperse the enthusiastic public who were gathering in and around the airport premises, media reports said.
According to latest reports, the Bangladesh Naval forces have joined the efforts to gauge the fire. The Air Force and Armed Army are already on ground zero helping the fire brigades to bring the flames under control, reports said. 36 units of the fire and rescue service have been pressed into service already, Prothom Alo said in a report.
What caused the airport fire?
A fire broke out at the airport’s cargo warehouse around 2:30 pm. It is located between the postal service building and the hangar at Shahjalal Airport, news reports said.
It is believed that the fire originated in the import cargo complex building, which is located next to gate number 8 of the airport. While the cause of the fire is yet to be established, it was the area where imported cargo was stored that reportedly got engulfed first.
Gate number 8 is also called the hangar gate as the import cargo complex has three separate gates, the Prothom Alo report said. The fire broke out on the north side of the complex, which is not from gate number 3. Soon, the flames engulfed the entire building, increasing the intensity of the situation, the report said.
“All our aircraft are confirmed safe. Further updates will be provided as the situation develops,” a spokesperson for HSIA said, as per the report.
