Death toll in Thai refugee camp fire rises to 35
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Thai officials examine the Ban Mae Surin refugee camp after the fire burnt down in Mae Hong Son province, northern Thailand on Saturday, March 23, 2013. The number of Myanmar refugees killed in the fire at the refugee camp in Thailand has risen to 35. -- PHOTO: AP
BANGKOK (AP) - The number of Myanmar refugees killed in a fire at a camp in Thailand has risen to 35.
The public health chief of Mae Hong Son province, Paisarn Thanyavanichkul, says police and rescue workers found 35 bodies after Friday's fire at the Ban Mae Surin refugee camp. He said Saturday that another five people were seriously injured and 20 to 30 others slightly injured. One refugee was missing.
The fire burned about 100 thatch huts to the ground and left a few thousand refugees homeless. Authorities believe it was started by a cooking accident.
About 3,300 refugees, mostly from Myanmar's Karen minority, live at the camp.
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