The fire that broke out at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka Saturday afternoon and gutted a section of its cargo village was doused after 26 hours on Sunday.
Fire Service and Civil Defence officials said that the absence of basic fire safety measures had made their operation difficult to bring the fire under control.
They said that the fire that broke out at a section of the cargo village that housed imported goods, including raw materials for industries, at about 2:30pm on Saturday was fully doused at about 4:50pm on Sunday.
The Fire Service and Civil Defence director for operation and maintenance, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, told reporters at the spot that the cargo section was divided into small steel compartments packed with combustible materials, which caused the fire to spread rapidly.
鈥榃e did not find any active or passive fire detection or protection system inside,鈥� he said.
The occupancy load was very high, he said, adding that the spaces were confined and congested, which made the dousing process extremely challenging.
Tajul said that four firefighting units would remain deployed at the scene as smoke was still visible.
鈥楢n investigation committee has been formed to determine the cause of the fire and assess the effectiveness of the airport鈥檚 internal firefighting systems,鈥� he added.
Thirty-seven units of the聽 firefighters worked to extinguish the fire along with the members of the Bangladesh Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy, and Bangladesh Air Force.
Although no fatalities were reported, dozens of people, including 25 Ansar members, were injured while they were helping to fight the fire.
Civil aviation and commerce adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin told reporters on the spot that the government was investigating every aspect of the fire.
鈥榃e are now trying to determine both the economic value and physical weight of the damage, and to identify the affected sectors,鈥� he said.
He also said that 21 flights were diverted or cancelled during the disruption.
鈥楾o ease passengers鈥� sufferings, the government has waived all fees and charges for non-scheduled or extra flights over the next three days. Food, accommodation,聽 and other services were arranged for stranded passengers,鈥� he said.
The fire forced the suspension of flight operations for about seven hours at the lone airport in Dhaka.
Besides the fire service, Biman Bangladesh Airlines and the National Board of Revenue formed separate probe committees following the incident.