Rohingya camp fire destroys 300 shanties, kills child

A devastating fire destroyed around 300 shanties and left a child dead at a Rohingya camp in Ukhiya upazila of Cox's Bazar district on Tuesday afternoon.

The fire broke out at Lambashia camp-5 around 3:30 pm, said additional relief and refugee repatriation commissioner Dr Shamsuddouza Nayan.

He said, "We were informed that the fire originated from a house at the camp and it spread fast due to air."

"One child was reported to have died in the fire but his identity could not be known yet. And the amount of the damage also remained unknown," he added.

Fire Service and Civil Defence's Ukhiya station officer Md Emdadul Haque said the firefighters being informed rushed to the spot and doused the blaze after around two hours' frantic efforts.

Earlier on January 9, a massive fire broke out at Block-B of Camp No. 16 in Shafiullah Kata area under Palangkhali union of Ukhiya upazila, destroying around 1,200 shanties.

Sayeed Alamgir/SU