300 left homeless after Nai Soi Refugee camp fire
More than 300 people have
lost their homes after a fire destroyed a small neighbourhood in Nai Soi
refugee camp in northern Thailand last week. No casualties have been reported.
According to Shalea, a
resident in Nai Soi, also known as Karenni Refugee Camp (1), the fire broke out
at about 10pm on July 5. He said that he didn’t know the cause of the fire.
“It may have been from a candle,”
he told Shan Herald by telephone. “It happened at night when most people
were already asleep. Thirty-three houses burnt down and about 300 residents left
without shelter.”
Thai police are
investigating the cause of the blaze, he added.
Nai Soi was original established on the Karenni State side of the
border in 1989 to house villagers fleeing conflict in eastern Burma. The
camp was relocated several times before it was
finally settled at its present location in March 1996. Currently, Nai Soi
refugee camp houses about 8,000 people, most of whom are ethnic Karenni.
Nai Soi has been the victim of several
fires in recent years; more than 40 people were killed in a blaze in 2013 and
about 400 left homeless.
“It is lucky this time that no one got
hurt,” said Maw Mya, a Nai Soi refugee who witnessed last week’s fire. “However,
this type of incident affects everyone psychologically.”
By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)
Tags: General, News
