Arakan News Agency | Exclusive
Two separate fires broke out in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, causing damage to shelters and health facilities, prompting firefighting teams to intervene and control the flames.
According to a reporter from the Arakan News Agency, the first fire occurred at Camp 2E on Thursday and was brought under control after intervention by community members and firefighting teams, resulting in one shelter being completely burned and two others damaged.
The second fire broke out inside a health center at Camp 4 in the Ukhiya area on Friday morning, requiring firefighting units to respond to the site. The fire was successfully controlled after approximately two hours.
Dollar Tripura, the station officer of the Ukhiya Fire Service, said that five firefighting units rushed to the scene immediately upon receiving the alert. He noted that after controlling the flames, the health center and nine adjacent shelters were completely destroyed as the fire spread to them.
He added, “Preliminary findings suggest the fire may have been caused by an electrical short circuit, but the exact cause and the full extent of the material damage have not yet been determined. A thorough investigation will be conducted to confirm the origin of the fire and assess the total loss.”
These camps have previously witnessed similar incidents, including a fire at Camp 7 in the Kutupalong area, which was controlled without injuries, and a fire at Camp 4 last April that was extinguished quickly by the camp’s firefighting team with the help of volunteers, also without casualties.
Days earlier, a massive fire broke out at Camp 22, causing significant material damage as flames consumed nine shops run by Rohingya residents. There was also a fire at Camp 9 in February due to a solar-powered battery explosion, partially destroying two shelters.
In January, two fires occurred: one at Camp 18, which destroyed a shelter and a shop completely, and another at Camp 26, which resulted in the death of a child and the complete destruction of more than 50 shelters, with 10 others damaged.
More than one million Rohingya refugees live in the Cox’s Bazar area camps in Bangladesh, which the United Nations classifies as the largest refugee camp in the world. These camps were established after the Rohingya fled Arakan State in Myanmar over the past years due to a systematic genocide campaign launched by the Myanmar military against them since 2017.
