Fire at Shahjalal Airport destroys garment raw materials, business samples: BGMEA

The fire at the cargo village of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport has destroyed valuable raw materials, readymade garments, and crucial business samples, said Senior Vice President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Enamul Haque Khan on Sunday.

"The fire at the airport's cargo village yesterday is extremely unfortunate. We (BGMEA) are deeply concerned," he said at a press briefing after inspecting the cargo village.

“This incident has severely impacted the country's export trade especially the apparel industry. We came here today to inspect the accident site,” he added.

Typically, high-value goods and urgent shipments are transported by air and the fire has turned these critical items to ashes, said the BGMEA leader.

"Among the destroyed goods were ready-to-export apparel, valuable raw materials and most importantly, numerous samples," he said.

These samples are what open the door to new business and are essential for business development, he said.

The BGMEA is now working to determine the full extent of the damage, he said.

The BGMEA has sent letters to its members with a specific format to list their lost goods. An online data collection portal has also been launched to gather information quickly, Khan said.

He  said, "We went inside and saw a state of devastation, a horrible situation. The import section is completely burnt. We understood how terrible it was only after going inside. It will take anywhere from 15 days to a month to get this section operational again."