THAILAND: Aid is delivered to Um-Piem Burmese refugee camp after fire raged through hundreds of homes the day before
Record ID:
346503
THAILAND: Aid is delivered to Um-Piem Burmese refugee camp after fire raged through hundreds of homes the day before
- Title: THAILAND: Aid is delivered to Um-Piem Burmese refugee camp after fire raged through hundreds of homes the day before
- Date: 25th February 2012
- Summary: DEBRIS OF HOUSES
- Embargoed: 11th March 2012 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Thailand, Thailand
- Country: Thailand
- Topics: International Relations,Accidents,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA49VGBOVGJYDNKAFPKIQUI2BMY
- Story Text: Aid supplies were delivered to Burmese refugee fire victims in the Um-Piem refugee camp on Friday (February 24) a day after a fire raged through hundreds of homes.
The United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Thai red cross, Thai-Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) and International Organization for Migration (IOM) sent supplies including canned food, water, clothes and blankets to some of the fire victims in the camp.
A Thai official visiting the camp, which is situated along the Thai-Myanmar border, said local police believed the fire, a day earlier, started due to an accident.
Tak Deputy Governor Wut Sitthisurat said the police were still investigating.
"Now polices are investigating the cause of fire but they didn't think it's a terrorism act. It might be an accident from the cooking," said Wut.
The Burmese refugees are not allowed to leave the camp area, with people whose houses were destroyed now staying with friends and relatives within the camp, said Thai official.
The fire broke out at the Um-Piem refugee camp at around 0500 GMT and burned for three hours in the Pop Pra district, 426 kilometers (265 miles) west of Bangkok.
Official said the fire spread very quick due to the bamboo and dry leaves that people used to build their homes. The total damage is estimated around 8 million Baht (263,330 U.S. dollars).
Thai official said around 556 homes have been destroyed and the refugees have removed at least 257 homes to protect their houses.
Um-Piem is the second largest refugee camp along the Thai-Myanmar border which houses more than 15,000 Burmese refugees who have fled the fighting between ethnic minority groups and the Myanmar government. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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