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Fire damages goods, disrupts Bangladesh's garment exports

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Garment body reports loss of high-value goods and samples

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Third major fire this week, investigations underway

Oct 19 (Reuters) - A massive fire at the import cargo

complex of Dhaka airport has caused extensive damage to goods

and materials belonging to major garment exporters, with losses

and impacts on trade likely to run into millions of dollars,

industry leaders said on Sunday.

The blaze broke out on Saturday afternoon in the import

section of the airport's cargo village, forcing a temporary

suspension of flights. Smoke continued to rise from the charred

remains of the facility on Sunday as firefighters and airport

officials assessed the damage.

The fire gutted storage areas used for imported raw

materials, ready-to-export apparel, and product samples - all

essential to Bangladesh's $47 billion garment industry.

"This incident has caused serious damage to the country's

export trade, especially the garment sector," said Inamul Haq

Khan, senior vice-president of the Bangladesh Garment

Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

"High-value goods and urgent air shipments have been

destroyed - including garments prepared for shipment, raw

materials for production, and, most importantly, product

samples."

He warned that the loss of samples could jeopardise future

business. "These samples are essential for securing new buyers

and expanding orders. Losing them means our members may miss out

on future opportunities," he added.

ESSENTIAL SAMPLES BURNED IN FIRE

BGMEA has begun gathering information from affected

exporters to determine the extent of the losses. "We have asked

all members to submit detailed lists of damaged goods, and an

online portal has been launched to speed up data collection,"

Khan added.

The airport cargo village is one of Bangladesh's busiest

logistics hubs, handling more than 600 metric tons of dry cargo

daily - a figure that doubles during the October to December

peak season.

"Every day, around 200 to 250 factories send their products

by air," Khan said. "Given that scale, the financial impact is

significant."

The cause of the blaze has not yet been determined, and an

investigation is underway.

The incident marks the third major fire reported in

Bangladesh this week. A fire on Tuesday at a garment factory and

an adjacent chemical warehouse in Dhaka killed at least 16

people and injured others. On Thursday, another burned down a

seven-storey garment factory building in an export processing

zone in Chittagong.

Bangladesh is the world's second-largest exporter of apparel

after China. The sector, which supplies major global retailers

such as Walmart ( WMT ), H&M, and Gap, employs about 4 million workers

and generates around $40 billion a year - more than a tenth of

the country's GDP.

The fire, which struck during the peak export season, is

expected to delay shipments and pose additional challenges in

meeting international delivery deadlines.