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7 years ago

Three killed in stampede for aid near Rohingya camp

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One woman and two children were killed in a stampede for unofficial handouts of clothing near a Rohingya refugee camp, aid agencies say.

 

The three people -- whose names and ages have not been released -- died Friday as supplies were being thrown from relief trucks on the road in the Balukhali Pan Bazar near the Kutupalong refugee camp, the Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) in Bangladesh said.

 

The deaths are a stark reminder of the desperation in the camps near the border with Myanmar, where an estimated 409,000 refugees have arrived since August 25, more than doubling the existing Rohingya refugee population.

 

"I could not bring anything. My clothes were given to me by someone here," said Rohingya refugee Romiza Begum. "I lost everything. There is nothing left in my home in Myanmar. Everything is destroyed."

 

The exodus began after Rohingya militants killed 12 security officials at border posts in Myanmar's Rakhine State, resulting in an intensified government "clearance operation." Amnesty International has accused Myanmar's military of deliberately torching Muslim-minority Rohingya villages near the Bangladesh border in a campaign of "ethnic cleansing." The government says it is targeting terrorists.

-CNN

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