Published : 17 Oct 2026, 07:20 PM
Updated : 17 Oct 2026, 07:20 PM
Shihab Uddin Sadi, a doctor, realised the resort was engulfed in flames as he left his room. With no escape in sight, he rushed with his wife Nafiza Nawar Khan, another physician, to the balcony.
They jumped onto a neighbouring tin roof. The sheets gave way, sending them crashing inside. Nafiza injured her leg, while Sadi hurt his hand and shoulder.
A fire broke out on Saturday morning at TUPTUP Resto and Resort at Patuartek, near Inani beach along the Marine Drive in Cox’s Bazar’s Ukhiya.
Fire Service and Civil Defence officials said 10 bodies had been recovered.
Sadi, a doctor at Mugda Medical College Hospital in Dhaka, had arrived with his wife on Thursday. Speaking to bdnews24.com at Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital, he said shouting woke them.
“Everything went dark within moments. The resort was made entirely of wood. As soon as I opened the door, I saw everything had burned. There was no way downstairs. I didn’t know what to do,” he said.
“I went to the balcony and, seeing no other way, jumped. We landed on a tin-roofed house. The sheets were very hot, then broke and we fell through. By God’s grace, it wasn’t very high. We survived.”
Residents took the couple to Ukhiya Upazila Health Complex for first aid before they were transferred to the district hospital.
Sadi said all eight rooms were booked and he was worried about other guests.
‘Fire May Have Started in the Kitchen’
Mohammad Abdullah and his brother Musa witnessed the fire. Abdullah suspected it began in the kitchen, beside the reception and staircase.
“I thought the fire started in the kitchen and then spread. It was time to prepare breakfast. I saw it catch fire there,” he said.
He saw one person escape by breaking a window and jumping out. Abdullah said the blaze threatened a neighbouring house. He called 999 at 7:24am and later helped put injured people into an auto-rickshaw before visiting them in hospital.
The Fire Service received the report at 7:25am. Two units from Ukhiya arrived at 8am, and the fire was brought under control at 8:15am.
