The government has formed a new committee to investigate the fire incident at Building No 7 of the Secretariat.
At the same time, the previously formed seven-member committee has been dissolved.
This information was revealed in a directive from the Cabinet Division on Thursday evening,
The new eight-member committee will be headed by Nasimul Gani, senior secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Earlier, at around 3:30pm on Thursday, a seven-member committee, led by Mohammad Khaled Rahim, additional secretary (District and Field Administration) of the Cabinet Division, had been announced. However, this committee was dissolved at 7:30pm.
The new committee includes Inspector General of Police Baharul Alam, Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works Md Hamidur Rahman Khan, Professor Tanvir Manjur from the Urban Strategy Department at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka Cantonment Commandant CMTD Brigadier General Mahbubur Russell, Associate Professor Md Yasir Arafat Khan from the Chemical Engineering Department at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Associate Professor Yasir Arafat from the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department at the same university, and the Director General of the Directorate of Fire Service and Civil Defence.
The committee has been tasked with identifying the source and cause of the fire, determining if anyone was involved in the incident, and providing recommendations to prevent such accidents in the future.
The committee has been instructed to submit its report within the next 10 working days. It is also expected to submit a preliminary investigation report by December 30.
The fire broke out at 1:52am on Wednesday in Building 7 of the Secretariat. The sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth floors were severely affected. The fire was contained after six and a half hours, with the efforts of 19 units of the Fire Service and Civil Defence.
The cause of the fire and the full extent of the damage have not yet been determined.
