Fazil Khan died in Friday’s fire in the Harlem section of New York City.
Indian Investigative Journalist Fazil Khan: In a tragic incident, an Indian investigative journalist lost his life in a building fire in New York City. He could not be rescued despite the valiant efforts of the firefighters who did their best to save the people trapped in the apartment building.
The Indian investigative journalist has been identified as 27-year-old Fazil Khan who was doing reporting work for the Hechinger Report. Fazil Khan died in Friday’s fire in the Harlem section of the city and his death was confirmed by the education-focused news media and India’s Consulate-General in posts on X.
The fire was caused by a lithium-ion battery that injured 17 other people, said the New York Fire Department (NYPD) adding that Khan was one of the five people who were seriously injured and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Hechinger Report, a non-profit media outlet focused on education, said in an X post: “We are devastated by the loss of such a great colleague and wonderful person, and our hearts go out to his family. He will be dearly missed.”
We learned Saturday that The Hechinger Report’s data reporter Fazil Khan died in a fire in the New York City building where he lived. We are devastated by the loss of such a great colleague and wonderful person, and our hearts go out to his family. He will be dearly missed.
— The Hechinger Report (@hechingerreport) February 24, 2024
Fazil Khan, who moved to the U.S. from India to attend Columbia Journalism School, was a beloved colleague and star data journalist dedicated to exposing injusticehttps://t.co/BT3fEdOJB3
— The Hechinger Report (@hechingerreport) February 26, 2024
Investigative Reporters and Editors, a journalist organisation, posted on X: “He was a wonderful, talented member of the IRE community. He will be missed.”
In an X post, India’s Consulate General said it was saddened by his death and gave the assurance, “We continue to extend all possible assistance in repatriation of his mortal remains to India”.
Fazil Khan was a graduate of Columbia University’s Journalism school, the Indian Institute of Mass Communications in New Delhi (IIMC), and the Delhi University.
Hechinger Report’s website said he worked as “a data reporter who is responsible for gathering and analyzing education data and collaborating with other reporters to expose inequality and examine innovation in education”.
NYPD’s Chief of Operations John Hodgens said in his statement, “The fire in the six-storey building trapped residents, three of whom hung out of windows and were rescued in a dramatic operation by firefighters who dangled on ropes outside the building to reach them and bring them down to safety. Meanwhile, other firefighters rushed into the building to help those trapped inside, some of them unconscious, escape the fire.”
According to Khan’s LinkedIn profile, he had worked for Business Standard as a sub-editor and for CNN-News18 as a correspondent before coming to the USA in 2020 to study at Columbia. After his graduation, he worked at the university’s Graduate School of Journalism as an investigative fellow.
(With IANS inputs)
