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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BJP workers allegedly attack children during Christmas carol roadshow in Kerala’s Palakkad: Reports
Palakkad: A group of children celebrating Christmas through a carol roadshow was allegedly attacked by BJP workers in Kerala’s Palakkad district on Sunday night.
According to local reports, the incident occurred in Pudussery area of Palakkad, where over 25 children, mostly aged around 13, were moving from house to house singing Christmas carols. Reports state that a BJP worker identified as Ashwin Raj, along with others, allegedly assaulted the children and vandalised their musical equipment.
According to the police and eyewitness accounts, the children were using a band set that belonged to a local CPI(M) office, which had the party’s name written on it.
Allegedly objecting to this, the accused and his associates reportedly lured the children on the pretext of offering them money and then assaulted them. The band set used by the children was also smashed.
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The Town Police have arrested Ashwin Raj, a local BJP worker who has been named as the prime accused in the case. Efforts are underway to trace and arrest the remaining accused who fled the scene.
Speaking to the media, one of the injured children said, “We were using the band just for fun. When they saw that it had CPM written on it, they took us aside and beat us.”
"We had given the band set that was in our office out of love when the children asked for it. The fact that these young children, who do not know the intricacies of politics, were attacked shows the criminal mentality of the BJP workers," local CPIM leaders expressed outrage.
A police officer told PTI that the arrested accused is already booked under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA).
The sections invoked include Section 192 (provocation with intent to cause a riot), Section 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), and Section 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), police added.
