Police say electrical short circuit caused 2024 housing ministry fire

Police have concluded that an electrical short circuit caused the December 2024 fire that destroyed the building housing three government ministries, saying the investigation found no evidence that the fire was deliberately started.

Police released details of the investigation on Wednesday, along with CCTV footage showing events before the fire spread through the building.

The fire broke out on 12 December 2024 at the building housing the Housing Ministry and two other government ministries. The building was left unusable, and the ministries that operated there were subsequently relocated temporarily to Dharubaaruge.

Claims that the building may have been deliberately set on fire circulated after the incident. Police had previously said they had found no evidence supporting those allegations.

At Wednesday’s press conference, Head of Major Crime Investigation Abdulla Rasheed said investigators reviewed footage from 14 CCTV cameras, as well as photographs and videos provided by members of the public. Statements were also taken from 42 people.

Rasheed said laboratory analysis found no evidence of chemicals or substances that could have been used to start the fire.

Investigators instead concluded that the fire originated from an electrical short circuit.

Police said the Geomatics Department of the Housing Ministry, where the fire was first detected, had previously experienced electrical problems.

“Forensic examinations of the electrical wiring were carried out. The examinations showed signs of heat damage to the wires, and some wires had melted after coming into contact with each other due to overheating,” Rasheed said.

He added that investigators found signs of short circuits in two of the electrical wires examined.

A team from India that assisted with the investigation also concluded that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit, according to police.

Rasheed said the electrical wires that caught fire were located in confined spaces above the building’s ceiling, making the initial fire difficult to locate and extinguish.

Police said the fire spread after it had initially been put out because strong winds caused it to reignite and spread through the building.

Based on the findings of the investigation, Rasheed said police had found no further matter requiring investigation in relation to the cause of the fire.

Police also presented CCTV footage reconstructing the events leading up to the fire.

According to the presentation, electricity on the ground floor went out at about 5:33am on the day of the incident. This was captured by a CCTV camera outside the building.

At about 6:13am, a security guard at the neighbouring Green Building noticed a fire in electrical wiring between the ground-floor ceiling and the first-floor deck. The guard went onto the street seeking assistance.

Police said the guard initially struggled to report the incident because there was no balance on his phone and he did not know the number to call. He spent about three minutes seeking assistance before an off-duty Maldives National Defence Force officer travelling on a motorcycle stopped at about 6:15am.

The officer reported the incident to the MNDF and went to the Housing Ministry, where he informed the security guard on duty. Two female ministry employees were also at the premises at the time.

Before MNDF firefighters arrived, the security guard used water to extinguish the visible fire in the electrical wiring. Police said there was smoke at the scene when firefighters arrived, but no visible flames.

Firefighters entered the building to locate the source of the fire and noticed that smoke inside was becoming heavier.

At about 7:15am, another fire was discovered in electrical wiring between the ground-floor ceiling and the first-floor deck. Police said the fire spread further while firefighters were attempting to extinguish it, with strong winds contributing to its spread.

Police said CCTV footage from the day before the fire until midnight on the day of the incident did not show anyone other than employees entering or leaving the building before the fire.

The office had been locked at about 12:40am, after which two security guards remained on duty, according to police.

Police also said a female employee who arrived for work at 6:01am on the morning of the fire did not enter the building.

The fire rendered three government ministry offices unusable. Police said only the Environment Ministry had insurance coverage at the time of the incident.