15 killed, over 400 missing after deadly fire in Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh: UN official
Dhaka, Mar 23: At least 15 people were killed and 400 were reported missing after a massive overnight fire swept through a crammed Rohingya camp in Bangladesh's southeastern Cox's Bazar district, destroying thousands of shelters housing over 45,000 people, a senior UN official said on Tuesday.
Rescuers on Tuesday recovered the 15 bodies. Hundreds of people injured in the fire are being treated at nearby hospitals.
"We have so far confirmed 15 people dead, 560 injured, 400 are still missing and at least 10,000 shelters have been destroyed," UN Refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesman Johannes van der Klaauw said virtually joining a news briefing in Geneva from Dhaka.
We still have 400 people unaccounted for, maybe somewhere in the rubble as the blaze destroyed at least 10,000 provisional shelters which were makeshift tarp and bamboo-made abode of over 45,000 people.
"What we have seen in this fire is something we have never seen before in these camps. It is massive. It is devastating," Klaauw added.
Bangladesh officials initially reported seven deaths as searches were underway. Alongside the shelters, the fire destroyed six makeshift health facilities, including four bigger hospitals.
The Bangladesh authorities are yet to confirm the death toll.
But the government's Deputy Chief Refugee Commissioner Shamsud Douza said it was the biggest fire since the influx of Rohingya from Myanmar in August 2017 following a brutal military crackdown back home.
He said an official investigation was launched to ascertain the cause of the fire.
Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, who fled Myanmar facing military crackdown, often considered as "ethnic cleansing" by many rights groups.
The fate of the refugees' return to their country remains uncertain as Myanmar's military seized power last month detaining the country's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The military coup took place at a time when Bangladesh was spearheading a desperate campaign for safe return of some 1.1 million Rohingyas.
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International Federation of Journalists says 128 journalists killed worldwide in 2025
Majority killed in conflict zones
Brussels, Belgium: A total of 128 journalists lost their lives across the world in 2025, with more than half of the deaths recorded in the Middle East, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said on Thursday.
According to the global press body, the Palestinian territories accounted for the highest number of fatalities, with 56 media professionals killed as Israel’s war with Hamas continued in Gaza. IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger described the situation as unprecedented, saying the concentration of deaths in such a small geographical area over a short period had not been seen before.
“This is not just a statistic. It is a global red alert for our colleagues,” Bellanger told AFP, warning that the scale of violence against journalists reflected a deepening crisis for press freedom worldwide.
Journalists were also killed in several other countries during the year, including Yemen, Ukraine, Sudan, Peru and India. This shows the risks faced by media workers in both conflict zones and politically volatile regions.
Bellanger also criticised the lack of accountability for attacks on journalists, arguing that impunity continued to fuel violence against the press. Without justice, he said, those responsible for targeting journalists are emboldened to continue.
The IFJ report said 533 journalists were currently imprisoned, a figure that has more than doubled over the past five years. China remained the world’s largest jailer of journalists, with 143 reporters detained, including several in Hong Kong, where the imposition of national security laws has drawn criticism from Western governments.
The IFJ noted that its death toll is typically higher than figures released by other watchdogs due to differences in methodology. Its count for 2025 includes nine journalists who died in accidents. In comparison, Reporters Without Borders reported 67 journalists killed in the line of duty during the year, while UNESCO placed the number at 93.
