2nd place
silver star award
K M Asad
bangladesh
title
Deadly Blaze
At least 50 people were reported dead in the deadly blaze that broke out in a building on a shabby alleyway in Chawkbazar, Old Dhaka 2019. Within minutes, the deaths climbed to 67. It took hours until the firefighters brought the blaze under control. This fire turned so big because of the chemical business in Old Dhaka. It has been a family business run in the middle on a residential area. This place has more than 25.000 chemical warehouses, of which around 15.000 are in residential buildings. Fire service officials said only around two percent of all storehouses have permission from the city corporation. Most of the warehouses store chemicals and dyes, primarily used in readymade garment (RMG) and textile factories.
Just one month later the Chawkbazar Fire again the deadly blaze hit Bangladesh's overcrowded capital split through the 22-story FR Tower 2019 in Banani. More than 70 people were treated in hospitals after the blaze. This fire killed at least 26 people in Dhaka.
After covering fire burnings in Dhaka, I realized this is a booming situation for our everyday life. All people in Dhaka, me and my family included, live with uncertain life; no one knows what happens next and where.
Coverage of the 2007 Cyclone Sidr deeply affected the then-young photographer and he became determined to turn into a documentary photographer. He has been following the Rohingya crisis -- one of the worst global refugee catastrophes since 2012. The National Geographic Magazine in its August 2019 issue’s cover published Asad’s photo from his detailed coverage of the Rohingya in the Bangladesh-Myanmar border. His work has also been taken as permanent collections in the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts (KMOPA) in Japan.
Asad is now mainly working as an independent photographer. He also works as a Zuma Press contractor and Getty Images contributor. He is a fixed-term consultant for the World Bank in Bangladesh. His other clients include the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Agence-France Presse (AFP) Service, Plan Bangladesh, EDUCO, Forbes and UNDP Bangladesh.
After completed his photography graduation and working continuously as a professional photographer Asad has received numerous honors and awards including UNICEF Picture Of the Year, China International Press Photo Contest (CHIPP), Picture of the Year International (POYI), Days Japan International Photojournalism Award, New York Press Photographers Association (NPPA), The Lucie Award (IPA).
His works have been published in TIME, New York Times, National Geographic Magazine, La Stampa, CNN, VICE, The Telegraph, BBC, The Guardian, CNBC, Deutsche Welle, Yahoo News, Amnesty International, Los Angeles Times, International Business Times, Human Rights Watch, ABC News, MSN, Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal.
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entry description
There are just two days left of the Eid-ul-Azha when a terrible fire accident spoiled the joyous occasion for families of the victims. “I saw my brother’s body lying there. He was believed to go to our village in Mymensingh to celebrate Eid. Now, I have to take his body home,” said Atikul Islam.At least 50 people were reported dead in the deadly blaze that broke out in a building on a shabby alleyway in Chawkbazar, Old Dhaka 2019. Within minutes, the deaths climbed to 67. It took hours until the firefighters brought the blaze under control. This fire turned so big because of the chemical business in Old Dhaka. It has been a family business run in the middle on a residential area. This place has more than 25.000 chemical warehouses, of which around 15.000 are in residential buildings. Fire service officials said only around two percent of all storehouses have permission from the city corporation. Most of the warehouses store chemicals and dyes, primarily used in readymade garment (RMG) and textile factories.
Just one month later the Chawkbazar Fire again the deadly blaze hit Bangladesh's overcrowded capital split through the 22-story FR Tower 2019 in Banani. More than 70 people were treated in hospitals after the blaze. This fire killed at least 26 people in Dhaka.
After covering fire burnings in Dhaka, I realized this is a booming situation for our everyday life. All people in Dhaka, me and my family included, live with uncertain life; no one knows what happens next and where.
about the photographer
K M Asad was born in 1983 in the Mughal part of Dhaka city and spent his early life in the vivid alleys of the Bangladeshi capital’s old part. He graduated from ‘Pathshala’ - The South Asian Institute of Photography - where he studied photojournalism between 2005 and 2008.Coverage of the 2007 Cyclone Sidr deeply affected the then-young photographer and he became determined to turn into a documentary photographer. He has been following the Rohingya crisis -- one of the worst global refugee catastrophes since 2012. The National Geographic Magazine in its August 2019 issue’s cover published Asad’s photo from his detailed coverage of the Rohingya in the Bangladesh-Myanmar border. His work has also been taken as permanent collections in the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts (KMOPA) in Japan.
Asad is now mainly working as an independent photographer. He also works as a Zuma Press contractor and Getty Images contributor. He is a fixed-term consultant for the World Bank in Bangladesh. His other clients include the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Agence-France Presse (AFP) Service, Plan Bangladesh, EDUCO, Forbes and UNDP Bangladesh.
After completed his photography graduation and working continuously as a professional photographer Asad has received numerous honors and awards including UNICEF Picture Of the Year, China International Press Photo Contest (CHIPP), Picture of the Year International (POYI), Days Japan International Photojournalism Award, New York Press Photographers Association (NPPA), The Lucie Award (IPA).
His works have been published in TIME, New York Times, National Geographic Magazine, La Stampa, CNN, VICE, The Telegraph, BBC, The Guardian, CNBC, Deutsche Welle, Yahoo News, Amnesty International, Los Angeles Times, International Business Times, Human Rights Watch, ABC News, MSN, Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal.
back to gallery