Seven dead as fire burns part of Rohingya camp in Bangladesh

Plumes of smoke rise from the burning houses as a fire sweeps through the Balukhali Rohingya camp in Ukhiya upazila of Cox’s Bazar on Monday. — UNHCR photo

Several thousands of makeshift houses in Rohingya camps in Ukhia of Cox’s Bazar were damaged in a massive fire that began on Monday afternoon and continued until night, displacing scores of inhabitants.

The fire damaged partly or entirely the makeshift houses at the five camps — camp-8 east and camp-8 west, as well as camp-8, camp-9, camp-10 and camp-11 — which were formerly housed 40,000 Rohingyas, in the dumpy Balukhali area of Ukhia.

Cox’s Bazar fire service official Shahadat Hossain said they could stop the blaze around 1:00am and the fire completely under control in the morning.

One unit of fire service was working on the spot, he said.

‘So far we have found seven dead bodies. We handed over two bodies to police and relatives buried five others,’ he said.

The victims included two children and as many women, he added.

‘Reports of causalities are being verified while several thousand of Rohingyas have been displaced following the fire,’ said Mohammad Shamsud Douza, additional commissioner of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner.

He said losses in the fire were yet to be estimated.

Locals said that the fire was reported at about 3:30pm at camp-9 and quickly spread to the adjacent areas and added that the Rohingyas were seen leaving their shanties with their valuables.

On information, the fire service from Ukhiya, Ramu and Cox’s Bazar district headquarters joined the fire fighting operation.

Md Shaheen Abdur Rahman Chowdhury, the resident medical officer at Cox’s Bazar General Hospital, told New Age that they ‘formally’ did not receive any dead body but kept the emergency ward ready to handle minor burn patients.

If there were serious cases, the patients would be referred to Chattogram Medical College Hospital for their treatment.

Witnesses said that a number of youths were seen held by the security agencies allegedly for pouring kerosene.

Several fires in recent months swept through the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar, destroying homes belonging to thousands of people.

Around mid-January, the UN Refugee Agency said more than 550 shelters — home to at least 3,500 people — were either totally or partially destroyed in the blaze on January 14, as well as 150 shops and a facility belonging to a non-profit organisation were burnt.

New Age