A fire broke out at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport's departure terminal on Sunday evening, filling the area with smoke and leading the authorities to evacuate passengers.
The smoke became visible around 6pm Sunday, Fire Service and Civil Defence HQ Duty Officer Kamrul Hasan told the Dhaka Tribune. Seven units from the Fire Service were brought to the spot in response.
As of 7:15pm, the smoke had almost cleared out and firefighters were still working at the scene.
Airport Director Group Captain Abdullah Al Farooq told the Dhaka Tribune: "There is no fire. It is just smoke that spread all over the terminal.”
“Sometimes this sort of smoke can come from the air conditioners. But we do not know yet where this smoke came from,” he added.
“When we saw it, we decided not to take any risks and evacuated the passengers from the terminal. Then we called our teams and the Fire Service.”
Around 8pm, Fire Service Director General Brig Gen Ali Ahmed Khan said they believed there was a short circuit in a cable on the ceiling.
“There are many kinds of wiring on the ceiling and the fire originated from one of those,” he told reporters.
“We are looking for the source, but there is no reason to worry, everything is fine now,” he added.
The Fire Service DG said the airport fire station needed to be renovated and electrical and fire safety audits needed to be carried out.
Seeking anonymity, several airport employees said that smoke started spreading around 6pm all around the terminal from the immigration section. Airport authorities then instructed all waiting passengers to leave the terminal immediately.
The airport is experiencing heavy traffic due to the Hajj flights that started from Saturday.
