Several others were injured in the blaze at TUPTUP Resto and Resort, a wooden property that authorities had warned about fire-safety risks in June. At least 10 tourists, including a five-year-old child, died when a fire tore through a three-storey resort near Inani Beach in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district on Saturday morning.
The resort was built largely from bamboo and wood, with a restaurant on the ground floor and guest rooms on the two floors above. The flames spread quickly through the structure, leaving much of the building gutted. Firefighters, police officers and local residents worked to contain the flames, which were brought under control by late morning. The death toll rose as rescue workers searched the burnt-out resort.
The fire broke out at around 6.30 am in the Patuartek area of Ukhiya, although some local reports put the time closer to 7 am. A notice issued on June 11 described the building as hazardous, but the property continued to operate without the required fire-safety clearance, according to reports by The Daily Star and bdnews24. Emergency crews received the alert at around 7.25 am and reached the property at about 8 am. Fire officials initially reported five deaths, followed by six, before confirming that 10 bodies had been recovered. Morshed Hossain told Prothom Alo that the bodies had been found by 2.15 pm and that rescue workers were checking whether anyone else remained inside.
Fire Service and Civil Defence Director General Brigadier General Sultanul Afreen Junaid said an inspector had visited the resort in June. Syed Muhammad Morshed Hossain, a senior Cox’s Bazar Fire Service official, said the building had been gutted.
