[🇧🇩] Secretariat Fire----Indo-Awami Conspiracy

[Saif]

Family blame firefighter Nayan’s death on failure to close roads in front of Secretariat

The family of Md Shoyanur Zaman Nayan, a firefighter killed while responding to a blaze at the Secretariat in Dhaka, have blamed the government’s negligence for his death. They believe he would not have died when the truck hit him if the road in front of the Secretariat was closed, reports b

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Family blame firefighter Nayan’s death on failure to close roads in front of Secretariat
FE Online Desk
Published :
Dec 26, 2024 20:34
Updated :
Dec 26, 2024 20:34

The family of Md Shoyanur Zaman Nayan, a firefighter killed while responding to a blaze at the Secretariat in Dhaka, have blamed the government’s negligence for his death.

They believe he would not have died when the truck hit him if the road in front of the Secretariat was closed, reports bdnews24.com.

On Thursday, Nayan’s cousin Rakibul Islam said: “When he was injured, the road was closed. If the road had been closed five minutes earlier, he wouldn’t have died. This incident is completely the failure of the home affairs advisor.”

On Wednesday night, a deadly fire ravaged through the Secretariat building.

Firefighter Nayan was crossing the road in an attempt to connect a water pipe when he was rammed by a truck and critically injured. The truck then rushed off.

He was later taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where the doctor’s declared him dead.

Nayan’s funeral was held at the Fire Service and Civil Defense headquarters in Bangabazar in the capital on Thursday afternoon.

After the funeral, Nayan’s maternal uncle Rakib Masud and cousin Rakibul Islam spoke to journalists.

Rakibul said: “Nayan joined the Fire Service back in 2022. He was initially in Sylhet. Later he was transferred to Dhaka.”

Speaking to journalists after the funeral, Home Affairs Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said: “Allah has granted him the status of a martyr. He was a very good firefighter and was brought here to join a special team.”

The home advisor then prayed for Nayan and asked Allah to have mercy on him.

Traffic was halted on the road in front of the Secretariat when the fire started and police and army personnel were on alert.

Many have questioned how a truck could have sped through the area under the circumstances.

Jahangir said, “A truck passing through the area is our own negligence. A truck should not have gone through there. But we have caught the truck driver. We will, of course, bring him to justice.”

A reporter asked Jahangir whether the fire at the Secretariat was a ‘failure’ of the home ministry. He responded: “One of ours is dead. That is our failure. Many people will forget this, but his parents will not. We will make sure that we do what needs to be done in order to ensure that his parents are well.”​

 

[Saif]

Secretariat fire: CCTV footage collected for investigation

Home Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury has said CCTV footage from all departments in Building No. 7 would be reviewed to determine the cause of the devastating fire that broke out in the small hours of Thursday at the Secretariat. At a press conference held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Secretariat fire: CCTV footage collected for investigation
Published :
Dec 26, 2024 23:19
Updated :
Dec 26, 2024 23:19

Home Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury has said CCTV footage from all departments in Building No. 7 would be reviewed to determine the cause of the devastating fire that broke out in the small hours of Thursday at the Secretariat.

At a press conference held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on Thursday evening, he said: “Footage from the CCTV cameras inside has already been collected.”

However, he did not confirm whether the footage revealed the cause of the fire, advising reporters to wait for the investigation report.

The Secretariat houses 30 ministries across eight buildings, reports bdnews24.com.

Building No. 7, where the fire erupted, is a ten-storey structure hosting key offices, including the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, Road Transport and Highways Division, Ministry of Finance, Finance Division, Financial Institutions Division, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, Local Government Division, Rural Development and Cooperatives Division, Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, Posts and Telecommunications Division and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Secretariat officials said each office is equipped with CCTV cameras.

According to the fire service, four floors—sixth to ninth—were damaged, with the eighth and ninth floors suffering extensive losses. Most documents on these floors were destroyed.

When questioned by reporters, the home advisor mentioned around 560 law enforcement personnel, including one superintendent and assistant superintendent of police, are responsible for the Secretariat’s security.

The government has formed a high-level committee, led by a senior secretary, to investigate the recent fire at the Secretariat, with instructions to submit a preliminary report within three days.

The committee will be chaired by the senior secretary of the home ministry and include representatives from the housing and public works ministry, the police inspector general, the fire service director general (as member secretary), an explosives expert from the armed forces, and three specialists from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, or BUET, —civil, chemical, and electrical engineers.

Besides the high-level committee, the Cabinet Division has also formed a seven-member committee, led by Additional Secretary Mohammad Khaled Rahim.

This committee, tasked with identifying the fire’s cause, any culpability, and recommending preventive measures, has been given seven working days to submit its report.​

 

[Saif]

Fakhrul: it’s not unusual for government to be embarrassed by Secretariat fire

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said it is not unusual for the interim government to find itself in an embarrassing situation following the massive fire at the Secretariat. He called for a thorough investigation into the incident to identify those responsible, reports bdnews2

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Fakhrul: it’s not unusual for government to be embarrassed by Secretariat fire
FE Online Desk
Published :
Dec 26, 2024 21:15
Updated :
Dec 26, 2024 21:55

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said it is not unusual for the interim government to find itself in an embarrassing situation following the massive fire at the Secretariat.

He called for a thorough investigation into the incident to identify those responsible, reports bdnews24.com.

In a statement on Thursday, Fakhrul expressed concern over the devastating blaze and the loss of important documents in the fire.

He also raised alarms about the death of one person and the injuries of two to three others during the firefighting efforts.

“The fire at the Secretariat has caused extensive damage with critical documents reduced to ashes. It is not unusual that the interim government is facing an embarrassing situation in such a disaster,” Fakhrul said.

A fire broke out just before 2am on Thursday in Building No. 7 at the Secretariat, the nerve centre of government administration.

After nearly 10 hours of firefighting efforts, the fire was finally brought under control around noon on Thursday.

The blaze damaged floors 6, 7, 8, and 9, the Fire Service said. The eighth and ninth floors saw the most damage and most of the documents there were burnt.

To investigate the cause and origin of the fire, the government has formed a high-level committee, headed by a senior secretary, with instructions to submit a preliminary report within three days.

In his statement, Fakhrul demanded a proper investigation into the fire, holding those responsible accountable, and urged the government to provide the family of the dead and those injured with compensation.​

 

[Saif]

No lenience for those who to conspire to foil us: Asif Mahmud

The plotters have not stopped, the interim government’s local government, rural development and cooperatives and youth and sports affairs adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain said on Thursday

en.prothomalo.com

No lenience for those who to conspire to foil us: Asif Mahmud
Special Correspondent
Dhaka
Updated: 26 Dec 2024, 19: 14

Local government, rural development and cooperatives and youth and sports affairs adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain visits the fire ravaged section of the secretariat on 26 December 2024 Local government ministry

The plotters have not stopped, the interim government’s local government, rural development and cooperatives and youth and sports affairs adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain said on Thursday.

“There will be no respite for those who would remain involved in the conspiracies to foil us,” he said after visiting the fire ravaged section of building no. 7 of the secretariat today.

The adviser returned to Dhaka postponing his visit to northern districts of the country hearing about the fire at secretariat in the morning, said a media release of the local government ministry.

Speaking about the fire, the adviser said they were working on the misappropriation of funds of the local government, rural development and cooperatives ministry in the past. They also found evidence of looting of billions of taka, the release further added.

The amount of loss from the fire could not be ascertained as yet, it read.

The adviser has directed to form ministry-wise inquiry committees to find out the losses and source of fire.

According to the fire service department, the fire broke out at 1:50 am. The fire fighters reached the spot at around 1:54 am and the blaze was brought under control at 8:05 am.

At first eight fire fighting units were working to extinguish the fire. More units were engaged later due to the magnitude of the fire. A total of 19 fire fighting units were deployed to douse the blaze.

The fire broke out at the 6th floor of the building first and it spread to the 7th and 8th floors.​

 

[Saif]

Secretariat entry passes for all private individuals cancelled

Journalists' accreditation cards also cancelled until further notice

www.thedailystar.net

Secretariat entry passes for all private individuals cancelled
Journalists' accreditation cards also cancelled until further notice

Bangladesh Secretariat. Photo: Collected

The government has suspended entry passes of all visitors, including journalists, to the Bangladesh Secretariat, citing "security concerns" following a recent fire incident.

A notice issued last night, signed by Khuda Baksh Chowdhury, special assistant to the chief adviser for Home Affairs, announced the immediate cancellation of all temporary entry passes for private individuals.

The directive specifies that only holders of permanent entry passes, issued under the Digital Access Control System, as well as government officers and employees with valid temporary passes, will be permitted entry.

Journalists, who previously accessed the Secretariat using accreditation cards, are also cancelled until further notice.

Individuals affected by the cancellations have been given a 15-day window to apply for new temporary entry passes through the special cell located at Bangladesh Police, Crime Command and Control Center, DMP, 15 Abdul Gani Road, according to the notification.

The decision comes after a fire at the Secretariat raised concerns about the facility's security, prompting enhanced measures to safeguard the premises.​

 

[Saif]

Secretariat fire sabotage or accident still not known

Says fire service DG

www.thedailystar.net

Secretariat fire sabotage or accident still not known
Says fire service DG

Smoke billows out of a building of the Secretariat as firefighters battle the fires that broke out early yesterday. Security personnel stand guard outside. Photo: Star/fire service

The Cabinet Division-formed investigation committee today began probing the fire that ravaged four floors of a Bangladesh Secretariat building, destroying important files, documents, computers, furniture, and other materials from six divisions across five ministries.

The fire, which was noticed around 1:52am on Thursday in two sections of the nine-storey Building No 7 within the highly secured Secretariat complex, caused significant damage to walls and floors.

It affected the Road Transport and Highways Division, two divisions under the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development, and Cooperatives, the Posts and Telecommunications Division, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

This morning, members of the eight-member investigation committee visited the affected building and later held a meeting.

"The investigation process is ongoing. The committee will hold another meeting tomorrow (today)," Brigadier General Muhammad Zahid Kamal, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence and member secretary of the committee, told The Daily Star.

He said they could not determine whether it was an act of sabotage or an accident during the primary investigation, expressing his unwillingness to comment further until the investigation is complete.

Formed on Thursday, the committee is tasked with identifying the source and cause of the fire, determining any personal or professional responsibility, and providing recommendations to prevent such incidents and improve overall security of the Secretariat.

The committee has been asked to submit a preliminary investigation report by December 30 and a complete report within the following 10 working days.

Nineteen firefighting units extinguished the blaze after 10 hours of intense effort. A firefighter setting up hose pipes was run over and killed by a truck on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sheikh Md Sajjat Ali also visited the damaged building today, accompanied by members of the DMP Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit.

Also, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) continued its forensic investigation for a second day.

CID Inspector Prashanta Kumar Debnath said evidence collected from the site on Thursday was being supplemented with a broader search around Building 7.

A secretary from one of the fire-affected ministries said he sent a representative to assess the situation today, who reported to him that the affected building is currently without electricity and water supply.

He said they are planning to have staff from the affected ministries and divisions continue their work in other departments under his ministry. "We are also considering whether we can use some rooms from other ministries in the Secretariat," he told The Daily Star, requesting anonymity.

Meanwhile, the fire service deployed an additional unit today to prevent any further fire incidents.​

 

[Saif]

Secretariat fire: Probe begins, no clues yet

A high-powered Cabinet Division committee on Friday started its investigation into the fire incident at the Bangladesh Secretariat that gutted one of its buildings housing offices of five ministries, destroying and damaging numerous documents.

www.newagebd.net

Secretariat fire: Probe begins, no clues yet
Staff Correspondent 27 December, 2024, 23:38

An investigator on Friday inspects a damaged site of the secretariat in Dhaka that saw a devastating fire early Thursday. | Md Saurav

A high-powered Cabinet Division committee on Friday started its investigation into the fire incident at the Bangladesh Secretariat that gutted one of its buildings housing offices of five ministries, destroying and damaging numerous documents.

In the morning, probe committee members visited the damaged Building No 7 and held a meeting.

They are also scheduled to have another meeting today, committee members said.

Religious affairs adviser AFM Khalid Hossain, meanwhile on Friday, at a programme held in Chattogram city said that after assuming responsibility the interim government was facing challenges one after another.

Citing the fire incident at the secretariat, he alleged that the government was constantly facing hurdles through agitations related to numerous issues and sabotage attempts.

The adviser warned that no saboteurs would be spared, read a press release issued by the religious affairs ministry.

A fire broke out in Building No 7 at the secretariat, the administrative headquarters of the government in the capital, gutting offices and documents of five ministries early Thursday.

Fire service doused the fire in 10 hours while one firefighter was killed in a road accident during operations to extinguish the fire with four others received injuries.

Environment adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan, at a press conference on Thursday, announced the formation of a high-powered eight-member committee to trace the source and cause of the fire.

The committee would submit a preliminary report on the fire incident in the next three days, she added.

Home ministry senior secretary Nasimul Ghani is heading the probe committee with fire service and civil defence director general Brigadier General Muhammad Jahed Kamal being the member secretary.

The committee’s other members are inspector general of police Baharul Alam; three Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology teachers as explosive experts—civil engineering professor Tanvir Manjur, chemical engineering associate professor Md Easir Arafat Khan, and electrical and electronic engineering associate professor Yeasir Arafat; housing and public works ministry secretary Md Hamidur Rahman Khan; and Brigadier General Mahbubur Russel.

Besides the cabinet division committee, four other probe committees have been formed in the incident—the labour ministry formed two, the Local Government Division formed one, and the Rural Development and Cooperatives Division formed the rest one.

Since Friday morning Bangladesh Army, police and Armed Police Battalion personnel were seen deployed surrounding the secretariat.

Fire Service and Civil Defence chief Brigadier General Muhammad Jahed Kamal, while leaving the secretariat after their visit of the place of incident, told reporters that the committee was not yet in a position to comment whether the fire was an act of sabotage or not.

He also mentioned that the committee members would meet in another meeting today.

According to witnesses’ accounts, the fire originated at the west part of Building No 7 at about 2:00am on Thursday and just after that a fire was also spotted at the east part of the building.

The offices of posts and telecommunications adviser Nahid Islam and local government and youth and sports adviser Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan were located in the opposite ends of the building.

The fire completely gutted the offices and documents of three ministries.

The offices and documents of the two other ministries, labour and employment, and road transport and bridges, were also severely damaged.​

 

[Saif]

Adequate investigation of secretariat fire a must

THE fire that broke out in a building inside the Bangladesh secretariat early December 26, burning down offices and documents of five ministries, is unfortunate because this happened...

www.newagebd.net

Adequate investigation of secretariat fire a must
28 December, 2024, 00:00

THE fire that broke out in a building inside the Bangladesh secretariat early December 26, burning down offices and documents of five ministries, is unfortunate because this happened in the administrative headquarters of the government which should have been well guarded against such incidents. The fire broke out on the sixth floor of Building 7 and damaged the eighth and the ninth floor the most, destroying almost everything stored there, as the fire spread upwards. Nineteen fire engines took about 10 hours to completely put out the flames. The army joined in the operation. The fire broke out first in the west of the building, as witness accounts say, about 2:00am the east of the building caught fire immediately after the first fire. The offices and documents of three ministries — the posts and telecommunications, the local government, rural development and cooperatives and the youth and sports ministry — were completely burnt. Offices and documents of the labour and employment ministry and the road transport and bridges ministry were damaged. The offices of the five ministries would be temporarily relocated. The fire warrants a serious, adequate investigation. The government and its agencies have so far set up five committees to investigate the fire and the extent of damage, with the main committee set to submit a preliminary report in three days.

But allegations have already surfaced about the fire having been an act of sabotage because of the way the fire broke out at two ends of the building about the same time. The fact that the ministries — such as the posts and telecommunications, the local government, rural development and cooperatives and the road transport and bridges ministry — where corruption and embezzlement have been widely reported during the 15 years of the Awami League government, toppled in a mass uprising on August 5, having been burnt tends to lend credence to the allegations. The adviser for the local government, rural development and cooperatives ministry to the interim government also says that work continues to identify corruption and embezzlement of funds in the ministry as the evidence of embezzlement of billions of takas has already been found. As the interim government is working to identify corruption of the previous government and work out ways to stop the recurrence of such corruption, it is imperative for the government to find out whether the fire was set and, if it was so, to find out the quarters having been at play. Corruption usually leaves a trail as it cannot happen in a single place. The government should, therefore, double its efforts to collect the evidence of corruption from all other places that may have the trail and proceed with its work against corruption.

Some of the committees set up are meant to establish the extent of damage. They should also collect evidence of corruption from all other possible places. The government should, meanwhile, adequately investigate the fire to establish any element of sabotage and to hold quarters responsible for the incident to account.​