Fazil Khan moved to New York in 2020 for a level from Columbia University

New Delhi:

An Indian man was killed in a lethal house hearth in New York’s Harlem attributable to a lithium-ion battery. Residents of the St. Nicholas Place house constructing jumped out of home windows to flee the devastating blaze that injured 17 of them.

The Indian Embassy in New York recognized the sufferer as 27-year-old Fazil Khan and mentioned they’re in contact together with his family and friends.

“Saddened to learn about the death of 27-year-old Indian national Mr Fazil Khan in an unfortunate fire incident in an apartment building in Harlem, NY. India in New York is in touch with the late Mr Fazil Khan’s family and friends. We continue to extend all possible assistance in reparation of his mortal remains to India,” the embassy mentioned.

An alumnus of the Columbia Journalism School, Mr Fazil Khan was working as an information journalist with The Hechinger Report – a nonprofit newsroom reporting on inequality and innovation in training. It is predicated at Teachers College, Columbia University.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Mr Khan started his profession as a copyeditor at Business Standard in 2018 and labored as a correspondent at CNN-News18 in Delhi earlier than transferring to New York in 2020 for his graduate diploma from Columbia University.

Mourning their “great colleague and a wonderful person”, The Hechinger Report wrote: “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.”

Dozens have been displaced within the hearth that witnessed dramatic rope rescues from the house constructing. Several individuals have been compelled to leap or use the fireplace escape to avoid wasting their lives.

Narrating the grisly tragedy, a neighborhood mentioned, “The fire was at the top and people were jumping out of the windows.” Another resident mentioned he and his father left residence with solely his telephone and keys.

Eighteen individuals have been rescued from the house – of them 12 have been admitted to a neighborhood hospital the place 4 are in essential situation, ANI reported quoting CBS News.

The Department of Buildings has issued a “full vacate” order after the fireplace and the Red Cross is aiding the affected with short-term housing at a college close by.

Inspectors, firefighters, and metropolis officers are assessing the injury to the constructing and investigating the fireplace.

According to the New York City Fire Department FDNY, lithium-ion batteries prompted 267 fires, 150 accidents, and 18 deaths within the metropolis in 2023. This yr thus far, there have been 24 lithium-ion battery hearth investigations.