At least 7 dead in Ukhiya Rohingya camp fire

Police and fire service officials have so far recovered seven bodies from the ruins at Balukhali refugee camp in Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar till this morning in the aftermath of the deadly fires that burned several thousand shanties.

The bodies include that of two children and two women, said Md Abdullah, deputy assistant director (DAD) of Cox's Bazar Fire Service and Civil Defence.

Photo: Collected

The seven bodies were recovered during combined operation by police and fire service officials, he said.

Also read: Ukhiya Rohingya Camp: Massive fire razes homes

The fire started around 4:00pm yesterday and firefighters almost doused it an hour later. But another wave of fire broke out shortly after 11:00pm and was still burning down shanties at the densely populated camp as of 12:30am, locals said.

The fire reported around 4:00pm was the third in Balukhali camp in the last four days, locals said.

Reuters reported that a video shot by a resident showed a blaze ripping through the camp, with people scrambling to recover their possessions amid burning shanties and tents.

Over a million Rohingyas live in the camps in southern Bangladesh. The vast majority of them fled Myanmar in 2017 amid a military-led crackdown that UN investigators said was executed with "genocidal intent".