Arakan News Agency | Exclusive
A thunderstorm struck a Rohingya refugee shelter in Camp No. 15 in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on Saturday, triggering fear and panic among residents.
According to an Arakan News Agency correspondent, citing eyewitnesses, no injuries or fatalities were reported. However, some family members briefly lost consciousness due to shock before later regaining it.
Local reports indicated that the presence of a nearby lightning rod helped prevent serious damage to the camp, noting that the incident once again highlights the fragility of the Rohingya refugees’ living conditions in makeshift shelters highly vulnerable to natural disasters and severe weather.
In June, 11 Rohingya refugees were injured when lightning strikes hit several camps in Cox’s Bazar during a severe thunderstorm accompanied by heavy rainfall.
Bangladesh currently hosts over one million Rohingya refugees in the Cox’s Bazar camps, which the United Nations describes as the largest refugee settlement in the world. Most fled Myanmar in 2017 to escape a genocidal military campaign, while displacement surged again after renewed fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) in November 2023, which subjected the Rohingya to violence, forced displacement, and conscription.
