An elephant has trampled through a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh, killing a child and injuring 30 people, according to local media reports.

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The elephant entered the Kutupalong Refugee camp yesterday.

A camp resident shot footage showing villages running and swimming across a river to escape as the elephant trampled makeshift housing.

Film maker Shafiur Rahman, who has been living in the area covering the Rohingya crisis for the past 13 months, posted the images on social media.

He told ABC News that a 12-year-old boy had been killed and an elderly person hospitalised.

Local media reports said 30 had been injured and 20 huts were demolished.

The report added that forest department officials had managed to chase the elephant back into the forest.

Mr Rahman said he had seen several attacks late last year, and they are now becoming more and more frequent.

"[The elephants] walking routes and migratory routes have been disrupted," Mr Rahman said, adding that deforestation and these new refugees settlements where adding to the problem.

"The elephants are also affected by the land mines at the border too. All in all catastrophic for everyone concerned."

There are now more than 800,000 Rohingya refugees living in camps having fled racial violence in Myanmar.

Many trees on the forested hills of southern Bangladesh have been chopped down to house the massive influx of Rohingya.

Tarpaulin and bamboo shelters have been built on elephant walkways in some areas, sparking environmental concerns, as the country struggles to accommodate an unprecedented number of people.

Reports of elephants entering camps in the area increased in the months leading up to this incident, with six refugees killed in September and October.