Fire tears through Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh
Blaze spreads rapidly through densely packed shelters in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps, raising safety concerns for one million refugees
DHAKA, Bangladesh (MNTV) — A fire swept through a Rohingya refugee camp in southeastern Bangladesh on Sunday, damaging multiple shelters and forcing families to flee as flames spread rapidly through densely packed settlements, residents and local sources said.
According to the Rohingya Khobor, a community-based Rohingya news outlet, the blaze broke out in the afternoon inside one of the camps housing Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, the world’s largest refugee settlement, where nearly one million Rohingya Muslims live after fleeing violence in neighboring Burma.
Residents said the fire spread quickly due to the tightly built bamboo and tarpaulin shelters that dominate the camps, leaving little time for families to save belongings.
“We were sleeping when the fire started. Suddenly we saw flames and everyone started running,” one resident said.
Another resident described how the fire moved rapidly between homes. “The houses are very close to each other, so the fire spread very fast. We could not save many things,” the resident said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, but multiple shelters were damaged, leaving several families displaced, according to local sources and community volunteers.
Residents and volunteer groups worked together to contain the fire and assist affected families before emergency responders arrived. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, and authorities are expected to launch an investigation.
Fires are a recurring threat in the Rohingya camps, where overcrowded conditions, flammable materials and limited firefighting infrastructure increase the risk of large-scale disasters. Previous incidents have destroyed thousands of shelters and displaced large numbers of refugees.
The latest fire has renewed concerns among residents about safety conditions in the camps, with affected families calling for stronger fire prevention measures and improved emergency response systems.
Humanitarian groups have repeatedly warned that the combination of overcrowding, poor infrastructure and seasonal weather conditions continues to make the Rohingya camps vulnerable to disasters, including fires, floods and landslides.
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