Online Desk  :   “The 8th and 9th floors have been most severely damaged by the secretariat fire incident. It is believed that the documents stored there may have been damaged by the blaze,” said Brigadier General Muhammad Jahed Kamal, director general of the Department of Fire Service and Civil Defence, on Thursday morning. The fire service received news of the blaze at Bangladesh Secretariat at 1:52 am on Thursday. Within a few minutes, the intensity of the blaze increased, and a total of 19 units arrived at the scene to control the fire.

The fire service team was assisted by police and armed forces in controlling the fire. In the initial phase of the incident, the number of police and armed forces at the scene was increased. Later, members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were deployed in the secretariat area. The building where the fire broke out, building No. 7 of the secretariat, houses several ministries.

The following ministries are located in this building where the fire broke out: Ministry of Water Resources; Ministry of Youth and Sports; Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology; Posts and Telecommunications Division; Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives; Local Government Division; Rural Development and Cooperatives Division; Ministry of Labour and Employment; Ministry of Finance; Finance Division; Financial Institutions Division; Internal Resources Division; and Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, Road Transport and Highways Division.