DHAKA: A massive fire burnt hundreds of shelters, shops and other facilities in refugee camps in the southeast of Bangladesh, leaving 1,200 Rohingya homeless.
The fire started Saturday in the Rohingya Camp No. 13 of Ukhiya of Cox’s Bazar.
Deputy Assistant Director of Cox’s Bazar Fire Service Atish Chakma told the media that firefighters brought the fire under control and extinguished it completely.
Bangladesh Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammed Mizanur Rahman said the incident was primarily suspected to be an act of arson from a shop at the camp.
He added there are a number of factions among the Rohingya in the camps over establishing power and they were found involved in such crimes before.
He said overcrowded conditions and components of the shelter could help the fire to spread fast.
According to the refugee office in southeastern Cox’s Bazar a total of 175 shelters, 40 shops, one learning center, and one school were razed because of the fire, while 50 shelters and 30 toilets were also dismantled or damaged.
The blaze also left 1,200 people homeless and wounded three others.
On May 24, another fire erupted about 300 houses in the same camp. The commissioner added they have assessed the aftermath of the incident and are working to provide shelter and support to the affected people.
According to Bangladeshi authorities about 1.3 million Rohingya are living in the country.
The majority of Rohingya fled a brutal crackdown by the military in Rakhine, Myanmar in 2017. Most of them are housed in overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar, but since 2020, about 35,000 have been shifted to the island of Bhasan Char.
