January 21, 2026
COX’S BAZAR – Fire broke out at a Rohingya refugee camp in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar, early today, destroying hundreds of shelters.
The blaze started around 3:00am beside camp 16 in Palongkhali union and quickly spread through the D-4 block, engulfing nearby sheds and shelters, said Fire Officer Dollar Tripura of Ukhiya Fire Service Station.
The late-night fire forced many refugees to flee to safer places.
Dollar said between 400 and 500 shelters were gutted in the blaze.
Two firefighting units rushed to the scene after receiving the alert at 3:20am and managed to bring the fire under control by 7:30am, but by then hundreds of shelters had already been destroyed.
He added that four to five people suffered minor injuries in the incident.
Based on preliminary accounts from camp residents, the fire may have originated from a cooking stove in a kitchen.
In a statement, IOM Bangladesh said more than 500 shelters and camp-based facilities were damaged in the fire.
Previously, on December 26, a hospital at camp 4 was destroyed by fire, while more than 10 shelters were damaged in a blaze at the Kutupalong registered camp the previous night.