Doctors Escape Burning Resort by Jumping From Balcony

Two doctors were forced to jump from a balcony to escape a rapidly spreading fire at a resort near Inani Beach in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on Saturday morning. Fire Service and Civil Defence officials said 10 bodies had been recovered following the blaze at TUPTUP Resto and Resort in Patuartek, Ukhiya.

Shihab Uddin Sadi, a doctor at Mugda Medical College Hospital in Dhaka, and his wife, Nafiza Nawar Khan, also a physician, were asleep when shouting woke them. Within moments, flames had engulfed the resort’s wooden structure, leaving them with few options to escape.

The couple jumped onto the tin roof of a neighbouring house. The hot metal sheets gave way under their weight, sending them crashing through the roof and into the building below. Nafiza injured her leg, while Sadi sustained injuries to his hand and shoulder.

Their escape was narrow. Both survived and received initial treatment at Ukhiya Upazila Health Complex before being transferred to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital.

Wooden Structure Allowed Flames to Spread Rapidly

The fire broke out at the resort along Marine Drive, near Inani Beach, in the coastal district of Cox’s Bazar. The incident raised immediate concerns about the safety of guests staying in the property, particularly as the flames spread through its wooden structure.

Sadi told bdnews24.com at Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital that he realised the scale of the emergency when he opened his room door.

“Everything went dark within moments,” he said, describing how the fire had spread through the resort.

According to Sadi, the building was made entirely of wood. When he tried to leave his room, he found the situation outside already dangerous, with no clear route downstairs.

He and his wife moved towards the balcony, hoping to find a way out. With the fire blocking their escape, they decided to jump onto the neighbouring roof.

The couple landed on the tin sheets, but the surface was extremely hot. The roof eventually collapsed beneath them.

“By God’s grace, it wasn’t very high. We survived,” Sadi said.

The couple had arrived at the resort on Thursday. Sadi said all eight rooms were booked and expressed concern about the other guests caught in the fire.

Witness Suspects Fire Started in the Kitchen

Mohammad Abdullah and his brother, Musa, witnessed the blaze. Abdullah suspected the fire began in the kitchen, which was located beside the reception area and staircase.

He said the timing raised the possibility that cooking activities contributed to the outbreak, as staff would have been preparing breakfast.

“I thought the fire started in the kitchen and then spread. It was time to prepare breakfast. I saw it catch fire there,” Abdullah said.

His account points to a possible starting location, but the available information does not establish the official cause of the fire.

Abdullah also saw one person escape by breaking a window and jumping out of the building. As the flames spread, he feared the fire could reach a neighbouring house.

He called Bangladesh’s emergency number, 999, at 7:24 a.m. He later helped transport injured people to hospital in an auto-rickshaw and visited them after their admission.

His account offers a glimpse of the confusion during the emergency, when guests and bystanders had to find ways to escape while the fire threatened nearby properties.

Firefighters Brought Blaze Under Control

The Fire Service and Civil Defence received the emergency report at 7:25 a.m. Two firefighting units from Ukhiya reached the resort at around 8 a.m.

Officials said the fire was brought under control at 8:15 a.m. By then, the incident had resulted in fatalities and injuries, with the recovery of 10 bodies reported by fire service officials.

The available information does not establish the identities of those who died, the final casualty count, or whether investigators had confirmed the cause of the fire. Abdullah’s account of a possible kitchen origin remains an eyewitness suspicion rather than a verified finding.

The incident also raises questions about emergency exits and escape routes in wooden resort buildings, particularly those accommodating guests overnight. The couple’s account suggests that reaching a safe exit became difficult once the flames spread.

Questions Remain Over Resort Safety

The deaths reported at TUPTUP Resto and Resort have put the focus on how quickly a fire can turn a holiday stay into a life-threatening emergency.

For Sadi and Nafiza, jumping from a balcony was the only escape they could see. Their survival came at the cost of injuries, while other guests were not as fortunate.

The immediate priority is to establish what caused the fire, identify the victims and determine whether the building had adequate fire safety measures. Until those facts are established, the precise circumstances behind the tragedy remain unclear.

The incident serves as a stark reminder of the risks posed by rapidly spreading fires in buildings where guests may have limited escape options, especially during the early hours of the morning.