The entire royal palace of the Chakma dynasty in Rangamati burnt into ashes Wednesday night in a fire that broke out at around 6:45pm.
Locals and witnesses said the fire in a few minutes engulfed the whole palace popularly known as Raja-ghar located on a small island near the Royal Forest Monastery.
Fire engines rushed to the monastery immediately but could not reach the royal palace obstructed by a canal flowing between the palace and the monastery.
No member of the royal family was present in the palace during the fire. The Chakma circle chief, Raja Devashish Roy, was in Bangkok and his daughter was in Dhaka.
Devashish’s private secretary Subrata Chakma said nothing in the palace could be saved. The damage could not be estimated right now, he said.
