Fire injures eight Rohingya refugees

DHAKA: Eight Rohingya refugees were injured on Saturday in a fire that broke out due to a gas leak at a camp on the remote Bhasan Char island on Saturday, police said.

Eight refugees with partial burns due to the blaze, which erupted in a house within a cluster, were sent to a government hospital in Noakhali district, Bhasan Char police chief Kawsar Alam Bhuiyan said.

He said five children were among the injured.

Bangladesh has relocated around 32,000 people from border camps in the southeastern district of Cox’s Bazar to Bhasan Char Island since late 2020. The move has faced opposition, especially from aid groups worried about a disaster in a country that regularly faces severe weather, especially along its coast. The government has dismissed safety concerns over the island.