TAK: A fire destroyed at least 100 houses at Thailand's largest camp for Karen refugees, in Tha Song Yang district, on Tuesday night. There were no reports of casualties.
The district office said the fire at Ban Ma Lae started in a thatched shack in the middle of the camp and spread very quickly to other houses.
The refugees tried to put out the fire, forming lines to fetch buckets of water, as they made phone calls to the Tha Song Yang district office for help. Two fire engines were dispatched to the camp.
More than 100 thatched houses were reported to have already burned down by the time the fire crews arrived.
They fought the blaze late into the night. The full extent of the damage was stil being assessed.
There are about 39,000 Karen at Ban Mae La, the largest refugee camp in Thailand.
Thailand has hosted refugees fleeing fighting in Myanmar for more than three decades. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are nine main camps, with about 91,000 refugees, along the border with Myanmar.