Cox’s bazar: A devastating fire destroyed several hundred shelters, along with educational and religious institutions, at Rohingya Camp-16 in Ukhiya upazila early Tuesday. Fire service sources indicated that the blaze might have originated from a gas stove left unattended while heating water around 4 am at Block D-4 of Camp-16 in the Shafullah Kata area of Palongkhali Union.
According to United News of Bangladesh, Fire Service and Civil Defence units from Ukhiya responded swiftly to the emergency. With the assistance of Rohingya volunteers, they managed to bring the blaze under control after nearly one and a half hours. The fire was finally extinguished around 5:30 am.
Head Majhi of Block D at Camp-16, Mohammad Riaz, reported that at least 448 shelters were completely gutted. In addition to the shelters, two mosques, ten schools, and one madrasa were destroyed, rendering several thousand Rohingya refugees homeless. Fortunately, no casualties were reported in the incident.
Ukhiya Fire Service Station Officer Dollar Tripura stated that the prompt response prevented the fire from spreading to nearby blocks. Upazila Nirbahi Officer Rifat Asma mentioned that preparations are underway to compile a list of affected families and assess the extent of the damage. Emergency humanitarian assistance is also being arranged for the victims.
In recent incidents, a hospital at Camp-4 was damaged in a fire on December 26, and several shelters were gutted at Kutupalong camp on December 25.