DHAKA: (Bernama-dpa) At least six tourists have been killed in a fire at a seaside resort in the south-eastern Bangladeshi district of Cox's Bazar, the country’s largest travel destination, officials said on Saturday (Oct 17), reported German Press Agency (dpa).
Dolon Acharya, an officer at the Fire Service and Civil Defence department, said the fire broke out in the morning at Tuptup Restro and Resort at Patuartek beach. The flames gutted the entire facility.
The scene is located more than 320 kilometres south-east of the capital Dhaka.
Acharya said firefighters pulled the charred bodies from inside the resort. Six other wounded people were rescued and rushed to a hospital, he said, adding that three fire engines took nearly two hours to douse the blaze.
Talha Bin Jasim, spokesman for the Fire Service and Civil Defence department, said the dead included five women and a five-year-old boy. Most of them had travelled from the capital Dhaka.
The resort, housed in a two-storey wooden-framed building, was operated as a beachfront retreat located directly along the scenic Marine Drive. It offered eco-style accommodation with panoramic views of both the sea and the hills, according to the resort's website.
The reason behind the fire was not known immediately.
M A Mannan, the chief administrator of the district, said an investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the fire and the damage it caused.
Famous for the largest unbroken sandy sea beach on the bank of the Bay of Bengal, Cox's Bazar is Bangladesh's main tourist destination, frequented by more than 3 million travellers annually.
Most of them are domestic tourists, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. - Bernama-dpa
