Bangladesh: Fire destroys homes in Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar – See video and photos

A large fire that broke out in a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh destroyed homes and plumes of thick black smoke rose over the area today before it was brought under control.

A massive fire has torn through a crowded camp for Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.

The UNHCR says the blaze in Camp 11 has left thousands homeless ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/ULQPJj9bo0

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 5, 2023

The fire broke out in Camp 11 in Cox’s Bazar, a southeastern border region home to at least one million Rohingya refugees. Most of the refugees fled to escape Myanmar’s military crackdown in 2017, and the fire left some of them homeless again.

“Right now we don’t have an estimate of the damage but there is no information about casualties,” said Rafiqul Islam, additional superintendent of police in Cox’s Bazar.

He added that the fire had been brought under control and that senior officials from the fire department, police and the refugee agency were at the scene. Farooq Ahmed, a local police official, said it was unclear what caused the fire.

Neither police official gave an estimate of the number of homes destroyed.

“I couldn’t save anything. Everything was reduced to ashes. Many were left homeless. I don’t know what is going to happen to us,” said 40-year-old refugee Selim Ullah, a father of six.

“When we were in Myanmar we faced a lot of problems… our houses were burning,” he said. “Now it’s happening again.”

Such fires are common in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. A large fire in March 2021 resulted in the death of at least 15 refugees and the destruction of at least 10,000 homes.