The submission of the preliminary investigation report on the fire incident at the Secretariat, originally scheduled for today, has been delayed by one day. The report will now be submitted to the Chief Advisor on Tuesday, December 31.
On Monday (December 30) afternoon, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs and head of the investigation committee, Nasimul Gani, shared this information with journalists.
He said, "We were initially given until December 30 to submit the report. However, we have just requested an extension of one more day from the Cabinet Division. Some tests are scheduled to be conducted tonight. Once the results are in, we will be able to submit the preliminary report tomorrow, Tuesday."
Last Wednesday (December 25) late at night, a devastating fire broke out at Building No. 7 of the Secretariat, damaging floors 6, 7, 8, and 9. The eighth and ninth floors suffered the most, with most of the documents there being completely destroyed.
In response to the incident, the government formed an eight-member high-level investigation committee led by Senior Secretary Nasimul Gani of the Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday. The committee was tasked with identifying the cause and source of the fire and submitting a preliminary investigation report within three days.
Other members of the committee include the Secretary of Housing, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Chief of Fire Service and Civil Defense as the member secretary, an explosives expert from the Armed Forces, and three experts from BUET—a civil engineer, a chemical engineer, and an electronics engineer.
Meanwhile, on Monday (December 30) at noon, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, Sub-Assistant Engineer of Public Works, outlined the damage caused by the fire at the Secretariat. He stated that approximately 200 rooms on four floors of Building No. 7 were affected by the fire.
Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan said, "About 200 rooms on four floors of Building No. 7 were damaged by the fire. The exact cause of the fire can only be determined after the investigation is complete."
Regarding whether the building will remain usable, he added, "Several high-level teams have conducted investigations so far. The next steps will be taken based on the opinions of expert teams. However, initial observations suggest that the building can be repaired. The final decision will be made after the investigation report is received."
