When a fire struck a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh, Dildar Begum ran, terrified, from her family’s slum to her brother’s home. “It looked like hellfire,” she said.
The fire that destroyed his home killed at least 15 people and left about 400 missing, the United Nations refugee agency said. Non-profit organizations operating there warn of deteriorating conditions in the camp that is home to more than 720,000 Rohingya who fled a 2017 military offensive in neighboring Myanmar.
The fire started on Monday afternoon and lasted for the night, displacing some 45,000 people and injuring more than 560, a UN agency spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
As soon as the fire was finally extinguished, Begum, 48, returned to his family’s camp, passing burned cows and human corpses. His family’s slum was reduced to ashes, along with his belongings. “We are in crisis now. It seems that it would be better for us to die, because we lost everything, ”she said.
Anowar Azim, 25, said he tried to contain the fire that was approaching his home, but failed. His wife left her home with her 1-year-old daughter, while smoke and fire enveloped the area. They ran to a safe place and are now with relatives.