Government medicines and important official documents were destroyed after a fire broke out in a storeroom at the Savar Upazila Health Complex on Sunday afternoon.
The fire erupted at around 2:30pm inside the health complex's storeroom. Staff members noticed the blaze and alerted the Savar Fire Service while simultaneously attempting to extinguish it.
According to Jewel Khan, an office assistant at the health complex, employees managed to bring the fire under control by around 2:40pm, before firefighters reached the scene.
Savar Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer Dr Md Fazle Bari said the fire was primarily caused by an electrical short circuit.
"We tried to extinguish the fire ourselves. However, government medicines, official documents and other items stored in the room were damaged in the blaze," he said.
Jahangir Alam, senior station manager of the Savar Fire Service, said two fire service units were dispatched after receiving the emergency call. However, by the time they arrived, the health complex staff had already contained the fire.
"Preliminary findings suggest the fire originated from an electrical short circuit. The exact extent of the damage is yet to be assessed," he said.
No casualties were reported. Authorities are assessing the losses and investigating the incident.