According to authorities, a camp on the isolated island of Bhasan Char experienced a gas leak on Saturday, which resulted in a fire that injured eight Rohingya refugees.
According to Bhasan Char police chief Kawsar Alam Bhuiyan, eight refugees who suffered partial burns from the fire, which broke out in a house within a cluster, were taken to a government hospital in the Noakhali district.
He said that among the injured were five children.
Since late 2020, Bangladesh has moved about 32,000 people to Bhasan Char Island from border camps in the southeast region of Cox’s Bazar.
Opposition to the move has come primarily from relief organizations concerned about a catastrophe in a nation that frequently experiences severe weather, particularly along its coast.
The construction of flood defenses, housing for 100,000 people, hospitals, and cyclone centers, along with other infrastructure, has led the government to downplay safety concerns regarding the island.
In Cox’s Bazar, nearly a million members of the Muslim minority from Myanmar reside in cramped camps made of bamboo and plastic; the majority of them fled a military crackdown in 2017.
Fires often break out in the crowded camps with their makeshift structures. A massive blaze in March 2021 killed at least 15 refugees and destroyed more than 10,000 homes.
Last year about 12,000 were left homeless after nearly 2,800 shelters and more than 90 facilities including hospitals and learning centres were destroyed in a fire. A panel that investigated the blaze called it a “planned act of sabotage”.
Read More
Bengaluru Police Enforce Restrictions Amid Constitution Campaign
