A massive fire swept through a crowded Rohingya refugee camp in southern Bangladesh on Sunday, leaving thousands homeless, a firefighter and the United Nations said.
No casualties were immediately reported at the Balukhali camp in Cox’s Bazar district, said Emdadul Haque, a firefighter official.
The UNHCR in Bangladesh said in a tweet that Rohingya refugee volunteers responded to the blaze, while the agency and its partners provided support. It gave no further details.
More than a million Rohingya refugees have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh in recent decades, including about 740,000 who crossed the border in August 2017 when Myanmar’s military cracked down.
Conditions in Myanmar have deteriorated since a military takeover in 2021, and attempts to return them have failed.