Fire engulfs hospital, several shelters at Rohingya camps in Ukhia

Two separate fires broke out at Rohingya camps in Ukhia, Cox’s Bazar, within a span of five hours, destroying a health facility and several shelters, officials said on Friday (December 26).

The more serious fire started around 5:00am at Camp-4 (Madhurchhara) in Rajapalong union on Friday (December 26), where flames engulfed a hospital located in D Block. Fire Service personnel, assisted by camp residents, brought the blaze under control after about two and a half hours, around 7:30am.

No casualties were reported, but the hospital was completely gutted and valuable medical equipment was destroyed.

The health facility, widely known among refugees as the “Malaysia Hospital,” was established by US-based charity OBAT Helpers USA following the August 2017 influx of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. It is currently operated by OBAT Helpers Bangladesh with funding support from Human International USA, in coordination with camp authorities.

OBAT Health Coordinator Dr Mahamudul Hasan Siddiqui Rashed said the cause of the fire could not be determined immediately. He added that the facility provided free healthcare services to Rohingya refugees as well as members of the local community.

Earlier, on Thursday night at around 10:00pm, another fire broke out at the Kutupalong registered Rohingya camp, about four kilometres away from the second incident site. The blaze, which occurred in Block B, destroyed at least five shelters.

Ukhia Fire Service Station Officer Dollar Tripura said one unit was deployed at the scene and confirmed that no one was injured in either incident. The cause of both fires will be investigated, he added.

The back-to-back incidents have heightened concerns over fire safety in the densely populated camps, particularly during the winter season. On December 24 last year, a massive fire at Kutupalong Camp-1W destroyed more than a thousand shelters and left one person dead.