On 5 February 2023, at around 2: 40 pm a massive fire broke out camp-11, camp-9, and camp-10 in the refugee camps in Bangladesh. Over 2,000 shelters have damaged or destroyed, 15,000 Rohingya refugees are now without shelter and 90 facilities, including hospital and learning centers were burnt down, according to report of concerned NGOs.
Around 2:40pm, the fire originated in Block B of Balukhali Camp 11 under Palongkhali union and quickly spread to adjacent Camps 10 and 9, said Mohammad Shamsuddoza, additional Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner. Fire services said that the flames quickly spread from one hut to the next in the densely populated camps since they are mostly made of bamboo and tarpaulin.
It was primarily believed that the fire was caused by a cooking cylinder explosion, reports Al Jazeera, however, this newspaper could not independently verify this fact till the writing of this report.
I hope and believe that it not was by accident, it was set first by someone or any groups said a Youth from camp-11. Refugees believe the fire was intentionally set, he added.
RRRC said ”Every house in the camp has a gas cylinder. Due to the explosion of these gas cylinders in the fire, the fire spread quickly and had to be brought under control. Some 2,000 houses in these camps were completely burnt and 22,000 residents were affected directly by the fire”. Ukhiya Police Station Officer-in-Charge Sheikh Mohammad Ali said police arrested a youth for his alleged involvement in the incident and that they were interrogating him.
Similar fires occurred in January 2022 and March 2021. While the fire in 2022 only damaged some 1,200 homes, the massive blaze in 2021 killed at least 15 refugees, including 6 children, and destroyed over 9,000 homes.
Conditions in Myanmar have worsened since a military takeover in 2021, and all attempts to send back the refugees have so far failed.
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