Fire at Ukhiya Rohingya camp is an act of sabotage: locals

A community centre and a mosque have been gutted by a fire that broke out at Ukhiya camp for the Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar.

No casualties were reported in the incident, Ukhiya Fire Service Station Officer Emdadul Haque said.

A group of unidentified people set fire to the infrastructures in an act of sabotage, the locals claimed.  

A fire broke out at Balukhali Rohingya refugee camp in Palong Khali Union around 2:30pm on Monday, Emdadul said.

Two units of the fire service brought the flames under control around 3pm.

Citing locals, Emdadul said, "Some perpetrators set fire to a local community centre known as 'Shanti Ghar' (peace house)  in the afternoon. The fire spread to a nearby mosque afterwards."

"A group of Rohingya youth carried out an attack on fire service personnel while they were trying to extinguish the fire with local residents. The firemen left the scene after the incident."

Law-enforcement personnel are yet to determine the cause of the fire, he added.

The local police and officials at the Refugee Relief And Repatriation Commissioner's office were not available for comment on the matter.