Sharjah 24 – AFP: A fire destroyed 2,000 shelters at a Rohingya refugee camp in southeastern Bangladesh on Sunday, leaving around 12,000 people homeless, an official said.
The fire broke out around 2:45 pm (0845 GMT) at camp number 11 in Kutupalong, one of the world's largest refugee settlements, and rapidly engulfed the bamboo-and-tarpaulin shelters, Mijanur Rahman, Bangladesh's refugee commissioner, said.
"Some 2,000 shelters have been burnt, leaving about 12,000 forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals shelterless," he said.
At least 35 mosques and 21 learning centres for the refugees were also destroyed, though there were no reports of any injuries or deaths, he added.
The blaze was brought under control in less than three hours.
It was not clear how the fire started. The authorities have ordered an investigation.
Fires are common in the camps where nearly one million Rohingya refugees live in squalid conditions.
Most of them fled a military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine state in 2017 and took refuge in Bangladesh.
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