At least 10 people died on Saturday, 17 October, in a fire at a holiday resort in Inani, in southeastern Bangladesh, a fire service representative told AP. Children are among the victims.
The fire broke out at the Tuptup Resto and Resort in Inani, in the Cox’s Bazar region on the Bay of Bengal. It is a popular destination for domestic tourists. Syed Mohammad Morshed Hossain of the local fire and civil defence service said the blaze broke out in the morning and quickly engulfed the entire three-storey wooden building. According to AP, in addition to the 10 dead, four people were injured. The firefighter confirmed that children were among the dead but did not provide details.
Conflicting figures on the injured
Earlier reports from the agency, repeated among others by Yahoo News, spoke of at least six dead. Fire service spokesman Talha Bin Jasim said at the time that the victims included five women and a 5-year-old boy, and that most of those affected had come from Dhaka. According to that account, six injured people were rescued and taken to hospital, and three fire engines fought the blaze for nearly two hours. AP reports four injured, so the figures differ depending on the source and may still change.
Cause unknown
The cause of the fire is unknown. According to earlier reports, district administrator M A Mannan announced an investigation to determine its source and the extent of the damage. Cox’s Bazar is Bangladesh’s largest tourist destination; according to figures cited by Yahoo News, more than 3 million people visit it each year, mainly domestic tourists. The resort lies on the Marine Drive coastal road, about 320 km southeast of the capital.
What it means
Nothing indicates that Polish citizens were among the victims; at the time of publication, no nationalities had been given beyond the information that most of those affected came from Dhaka. The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) usually comments on such incidents only when Poles are among those affected.
