Catastrophic fire in Rohingya refugee camps, 330 tents burnt to ashes, 10 injured

Dhaka, Ta. 14 May 2020, Thursday

As many as 330 relief camps were gutted in a devastating fire at Rohingya camps in southern Bangladesh and more than 10 people were seriously injured. A fire broke out in a gas cylinder shop in the Kutupalang Rohingya refugee camp and soon spread to the entire area.

Firefighters said all the camps in the area were made of bamboo and tarpaulin, including people's homes and shops. Due to this, the fire in the cylinder shop spread very fast and more than 330 houses and shops were completely engulfed in it.

Apart from that, more than 300 such temporary houses and camps have been severely damaged. Kutupalang, one of the largest refugee camps in the world, is located in the Cox's Bazar area of ​​Dhaka and is home to more than one million Rohingya refugees.

Bangladesh's Deputy Refugee Commissioner Shamsud Douja said the injured were being treated at a local hospital and that the emergency response team was providing all possible assistance to the Rohingya affected by the fire, in addition to the injured.

In 2017, about 7.5 lakh Rohingyas fled after military atrocities in Myanmar's Rakhine state and refugee camps were set up for them in Cox's Bazar. At present, the population is over one million.

The local administration and the government had earlier predicted that such a tragedy could happen in the area. In 2018, a woman and three children were killed in such a horrific incident.