Three students of a women’s hefzkhana (madrasa) died after a wall collapsed on them in Camp 5 of the Rohingya refugee settlement in Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar. Fourteen students trapped under the wall and soil were rescued alive. The victims and injured are all between the ages of 9 and 15, though their identities have not been confirmed. The incident occurred around 3:45pm Wednesday when heavy rain caused a wall to collapse. Children were in class at the madrasa at the time of the collapse, and several more children are reported to remain trapped inside. Fire service, camp administration, Armed Police Battalion (APBN) personnel and Rohingya volunteers are conducting rescue operations at the scene.
Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) and additional secretary Mohammad Mizanur Rahman told Prothom Alo that 17 children had been rescued as of 4pm, of whom three had died. The death toll could rise further, with several more still trapped under debris — all students of the hefzkhana. The incident occurred when a wall built on a hillside slope collapsed onto the madrasa. Fire service and camp administration are conducting rescue operations at the site. Rohingya leaders and police said heavy rain had been falling in the camp since morning. Around 2pm, a wall built at the base of a hill collapsed onto a women’s hefzkhana in the Mochra Bazar area of Block A-3 in Camp 5. More than 40 Rohingya children were in class at the madrasa at the time. Hearing the commotion, local Rohingyas rushed to help, followed by camp administration, APBN and volunteers, who recovered the bodies of three children and rescued 14 others alive. District Commissioner Md. A. Mannan told Prothom Alo he had received reports of three deaths so far, though their identities have not been confirmed.
Sirajul Amin, additional DIG and commander of the 14 APBN responsible for camp security, said part of the wall collapsed onto the hefzkhana during the heavy rain, killing three children, with three more seriously injured. In a separate landslide incident last Monday night, at least eight Rohingyas, including women and children, died in the refugee settlement.
Abdul Hamid, a Rohingya community leader (majhi) at the camp, said the children killed in the wall collapse were between 9 and 15 years old, and the death toll could rise further.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report