MORE than 3,600 Rohingya refugees lost their homes as a massive fire ripped through the Cox’s Bazar camp in Bangladesh on Sunday, destroying almost 600 shelters.

The blaze, which started at about 5pm, is the second to hit the refugee camp in the last 10 days, causing extensive damage.

Norwegian Refugee Council spokesman Roberto Vila-Sexto warned yesterday that future blazes could cause even greater destruction and cost lives.

“We need to provide safe, dignified shelter for refugees using fire-retardant material, and the dangerous barbed wire fencing should be removed that divides the camps and slows the escape of people fleeing the flames,” he said.

More than a million Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar, where they faced a genocide at the hands of the military, since 2016. Most of them are living in crowded camps in eastern Bangladesh, their temporary shelters made of highly flammable bamboo and tarpaulin.

According to the NRC, refugees had to cut through wire fencing to escape the fire and the NGO said “the risk of the next disaster always remains high” due to overcrowding.

Officials are working with the local authorities to assess the needs of the refugees.