20140129 Myanmar Fire breaks out in Maungdaw village
Myanmar Jan 29 2014 “Houses”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Fire breaks out in Maungdaw village
Updated: 2014-01-29
A fire rages in a Maungdaw township village on January 28. Photo: Ministry of Information
The government says a fire that destroyed 16 houses in a Rakhine State village on the night of January 28 – near the site of an outbreak of violence earlier this month – was started by Rohingya villagers.
The Ministry of Information said in a statement issued on January 29 that police and fire officials responded to the fire in Maungdaw township’s Du Chee Yar Tan Anauk village at about 8:45pm.
While emergency workers extinguished the fire a second blaze broke out in another house. When fireman went to battle the second fire they saw “five Bengalis” running away, the statement said.
“There is no Rakhine village near that village, and the neighbouring villages are just Bengali villages. They ran away after setting fire to their houses,” it said.
The Maungdaw police are still searching for the suspects. They face charges of arson, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years.
Maungdaw was also the site of an outbreak of violence between security officials and Rohingya residents in mid-January. The United Nations and human rights organisations say up to 40 people were killed in a crackdown by security forces and Rakhine residents who entered the village looking for a missing police sergeant.
The government has rejected the reports and insists that no civilians were killed or seriously injured. Yesterday it said it would send the Myanmar Human Rights Commission and senior religious figures to investigate the allegations but refused to grant international observers access to the area.
Websource：Myanmar Times
http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/9396-fire-breaks-out-in-maungdaw-village.html