Arakan News Agency
Two fires broke out in the same shelter in Block C of Camp-2W for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh on Tuesday, with no injuries or serious damage reported, sparking fear among local residents.
The first fire erupted at around 10:10 a.m., followed by a second fire at approximately 1:10 p.m., with residents confirming that both fires started in areas far from the kitchen, raising questions about the true cause of the repeated incidents.
Residents responded quickly and managed to control the flames before they could spread to nearby shelters, preventing a major disaster in the densely populated block.
Some residents expressed deep concern, saying: “When a fire happens twice in the same shelter in a single day, it raises serious safety questions. We want the authorities to investigate and take preventive measures before something worse happens.”
Local communities are calling on the authorities to investigate the cause of the fires and take urgent action to ensure residents’ safety and prevent future incidents.
Earlier in January, a fire broke out in Camp 4, which was brought under control after emergency teams intervened, according to camp authorities. This followed a massive fire in Camp 16, Block D, which destroyed 448 refugee shelters across four blocks.
There was also a fire inside a health center in Camp 4 in the Ukhiya area last December, as well as a large-scale fire that gutted Camp 24, completely burning about 50 shelters and injuring two children.
More than one million Rohingya refugees live in the camps of the Cox’s Bazar area in Bangladesh, which the United Nations classifies as the largest refugee camp in the world. They fled Myanmar over the past years following a systematic campaign of genocide carried out by the Myanmar military against them since 2017.
