A massive fire broke out at a Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar’s Ukhiya on Sunday, destroying at least 1,200 shanties.
The fire began at Shafiullah Kata Rohingya camp No 16 around 5pm, confirmed Refugee, Relief and Repatriation Commission (RRRC) Additional Commissioner Shamsu-Doja.
The fire gutted over 1,000 establishments including houses, learning and medical centres in the camp.
No casualties were reported until filing of this report at 9:25pm.
According to Armed Police Battalion (APBn) battalion 8 Commander Shihab Kaiser, eight fire fighting units reached the scene from Teknaf and Cox’s Bazar to bring the fire under control.
It is suspected that the fire originated in the camp’s B-block. The B and C blocks have been completely gutted, he said.
He added that they brought the fire under control around 6:30pm and rescue efforts were underway.
However, the complete extent of the damages is still unknown.
Multiple fires have been reported at the camps that house the Rohingyas who fled military prosecution in Myanmar in 2017.
On January 2, 2022, at least 20 houses and a health centre were gutted in a fire that broke out at extended mega camp-20 at Kutupalong.
In March last year, a huge fire broke at the Balukhali refugee camp claimed at least 15 lives, injured hundreds and left thousands of Rohingyas homeless.
