Damascus - A team from the United Nations refugee agency Sunday arrived at a fire-ravaged Palestinian refugee camp in the no- man's land between the Syrian and Iraq border to provide relief supplies following a devastating fire Saturday. The fire destroyed 53 tents and injured 25 people when it swept through Al-Tanf camp, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement.
Forty-one people from 11 families - most of them women and children were affected in the fire, which was caused by an "unattended fuel stove" and was the third in less than a year to devastate the camp, the UNHCR said.
Of the injured, three were diagnosed with first degree burns, five sustained traumatic wounds and 17 suffered serious breathing problems, the agency said.
Syrian border officials supplied oxygen canisters and helped the camp's medical team to provide first aid to the injured, according to doctor, Ahmad Hassan Talib.
The UNHCR team arrived at the camp Sunday with tents, mattresses and kitchen supplies for those affected.
UNHCR Syria Representative, Laurens Jolles, called for an urgent solution for the estimated 310 Palestinian refugees stranded at Al- Tanf, citing dangerous threats on their lives.
"We continue to explore options with the international community in the hopes that the refugees can be relocated to a safe and dignified environment" Jolles said in the statement.
The Palestinian refugees, who fled sectarian violence in Iraq, have been stranded in the border area since May 2006 after they were denied entry into Syria or any other neighbouring country. The majority are women and children.
