Fire blazes through crowded Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh

A massive fire raced through an overcrowded refugee camp for Rohingya people in southern Bangladesh, leaving thousands homeless, a fire official and the United Nations said.

Thousands of people lost their homes as the fire, which broke out on Sunday, burned down or damaged at least 2,000 huts, officials from the fire department told reporters.

The blaze hit Camp 11 in Cox’s Bazar, a border district where more than a million Rohingya refugees live, with most having fled a military-led crackdown in Myanmar in 2017.

Firefighters, assisted by local volunteers, were able to get the blaze under control, but reporters said a third of the camp’s population had lost their homes and belongings and that the UN was providing mental healthcare services.

More than one million Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar over several decades, including about 740,000 who crossed the border starting in August 2017, when the Myanmar military launched a brutal crackdown.