Guests at a beach resort on Bangladesh’s southeastern coast were still asleep when the fire reached them, and some who took shelter in the washrooms never came out.
Ten people, including children, were killed when fire tore through Tuptup Resto and Resort at Inani in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026.
Sea Winds Pushed the Flames
The blaze started around 7 a.m. at the resort near the Bay of Bengal, in a district popular with domestic tourists, said Syed Mohammad Morshed Hossain, deputy assistant director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence in Cox’s Bazar district. About 18 tourists were staying there.
Saiful Islam, a volunteer who assisted at the scene, said the guests were asleep when the fire started. “Some people had taken shelter in the washrooms to save their lives, but they died there,” he said.
Toufiqul Islam Bhuiyan, deputy director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence’s Chattogram division, said strong sea winds pushed the flames through the wooden building. Several people jumped from windows and balconies to escape. Rescuers later found four of the dead inside two toilets on the resort’s second floor, Bhuiyan said.
The Cox’s Bazar Fire Service received the alert at 7:23 a.m. Firefighters reached the resort around 8 a.m. and brought the fire under control at 8:15 a.m., according to the Fire Service, and fully doused it around 11 a.m. Local residents joined the rescue and firefighting, with support from police, the Bangladesh Border Guard and the Bangladesh Coast Guard.
Hossain put the number of injured at four. Another count had six injured hospitalized.
Families Must Wait for DNA Results
Subaktagin Mahmud Sohel, resident medical officer at Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital, said authorities have provisionally established the identities of six of the 10 victims. They have not yet confirmed which body belongs to which victim.
The six were named as Israt Jahan, 30, and Milita Mehezabin, 23, from Dhaka’s Banasree; Laila Jahan, 27, and Nafista Mim, 27, from Khilgaon; Fariha Kabir, 33, from Chuadanga; and five-year-old Faizan Ahmed.
The four who remain unidentified are two women, one child and one man. Local officials believe six of the dead were members of the same family. Authorities will hand the bodies to relatives after DNA testing.
The Resort Had None of Them
Bhuiyan said establishments like the resort are required to keep portable fire extinguishers, fire alarms, hosepipes and a fire safety plan. The resort had none of them, and it also lacked a fire safety license.
The building went up only seven or eight months earlier, Bhuiyan said, and the land was reportedly the subject of an ownership dispute. Fire officials inspected the property in June and warned about fire risks, yet the resort kept operating without the required license. The Department of Environment issued a notice earlier in 2026 and assessed Tk 100,000 in compensation.
Fazle Rabbi, authorized officer of the Cox’s Bazar Development Authority, said the resort had been served sequential notices since 2023, including orders to cease operations and demolish the structure, and that its development application was rejected because the site lies in a designated no-development zone. Removal directives were issued in 2023 and 2024.
Lt Col MA Azad Anwar, director (Training, Planning, and Development) of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, speaking at the site on Oct. 18, said one sanctioned inspector covers 500 to 600 commercial establishments across Cox’s Bazar district, and that nearly 400 establishments operate without a valid license. Azad Anwar, asked about licenses along the Marine Drive, said: “This establishment was an illegal entity.”
The Owner Has Not Been Found
Police filed a case late Saturday against 23 people, four of them named and the rest unidentified. Ashis Sutradhar, a sub-inspector of Ukhiya Police Station, filed the case, and Ukhiya Police Station Officer-in-Charge Atikur Rahman Majumder confirmed it. Resort owner Md Tanvir is named as the prime accused, along with Newaz Morshed.
Police detained the resort’s manager, Zahidul Islam, also known as Sumon, at the scene Saturday afternoon. The manager was due before a court on Oct. 18. On Monday, Oct. 19, police asked a magistrate’s court in Ukhiya for a seven-day remand to question him, and DNA samples from the dead and their relatives were sent to Dhaka to help identify the victims, The Business Standard reported. Tanvir has been untraceable since the fire.
Cox’s Bazar Deputy Commissioner A Mannan said the fire was initially believed to have started at the kitchen stove, but that could not be confirmed. A five-member committee has been formed to examine the cause. Cox’s Bazar Superintendent of Police ANM Sajedur Rahman said no definitive statement on the cause would come until the investigation is complete.