A massive fire broke out at Camp 8W in the Rohingya Refugee Camp in Bangladesh on March 22nd. The fire reduced thousands of infrastructures including shelters, mosques, community, learning and service centers as well as different facilities such as shops and offices, to rubble. The gas cylinder blast that led to the fire was powerful and was fueled by strong winds, causing it to spread rapidly within a short period in the surrounding areas.
More than 15,000 shelters and 18 learning centers were swallowed by the fire. These shelters include the 1,500 shelters OBAT constructed in partnership with ALIGHT in 2018.
Various nonprofits in camp 9
This was a second brutal blow to the Rohingya refugees who already lost their homes and belongings once, when they migrated to Bangladesh in 2017 to escape persecution and genocide perpetrated by the Myanmar army.
OBAT’s emergency team worked round the clock to ensure that essential needs including food, clothing and medical needs of the victims were met. Medical camps were also set up by the staff of OBAT’s medical clinic.
At present, 1,793 refugees have received medical help through OBAT’s health camp and 5,320 meals have been distributed to the fire victims. Thank you to all the generous supporters who jumped in to provide help and enabled us to extend assistance.