A “massive” fire broke out in a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh today, now destroying several buildings, police officials told Reuters, adding that no one was killed.
The fire affected Camp 11 in Cox’s Bazar, a border area home to more than a million Rohingya refugees, many of whom fled a military offensive in Myanmar in 2017, warden Rafiqul Islam told Reuters. Another police force in Cox’s Bazar. I don’t have a damage estimate, but no one died,” Islam said, adding that the fire was under control and a large fire brigade, police and refugee aid workers were at the site. Faruque Ahmed, the local police officer said that the cause of the fire was not known.
The refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, in southeastern Bangladesh, is prone to such fires. Similar fires occurred in January 2022 and March 2021. Although the 2022 fire damaged only houses, the large fire of 2021 killed at least 15 refugees and destroyed more than 10,000 houses.
