Fire destroys 29 tents in Bangladesh's Rohingya refugee camp

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - A fire broke out at the Kutupalong Rohingya refugee camp on the southeastern coast of Bangladesh, leaving dozens of tents completely gutted, an official said on Tuesday.

The fire erupted in the early morning at the refugee camp in Cox's Bazar where more than 1.1 million Rohingya have taken refuge after fleeing a brutal military crackdown in neighboring Myanmar's Rakhine State since August 2017.

"Police and firefighters responded to the incident immediately after the fire started at Camp 5 and managed to douse the fire in an hour," Mohammad Naimul Haq, a security official, told Anadolu Agency.

“At least 29 tents were gutted completely in the fire that caused no injury and casualties. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained," he added.

"We were lucky that we found a water source near the incident area, otherwise the fire could have been as devastating as we witnessed recently that left thousands homeless at the Cox's Bazar camp," said the official.

Security forces have been beefed up at the camp after the incident, he said, adding: "We're investigating the frequent fire incidents at refugee camps."

Earlier on Jan. 9, a massive fire broke out at Rohingya Camp leaving thousands of shelters raised and their inhabitants homeless.

Conditions in the camps make large fires a major risk, according to the UN International Organization for Migration.

The deadliest fire in one of the camps broke out on March 22 last year, with at least 15 people killed and more than 10,000 Rohingya structures and tents completely destroyed, including a large camp-based Turkish field hospital.​​​​​​​