Shanty town burning: Did anyone here get out alive?



A firefighter searches for signs of life in the ashy ruins of 400 shanty homes in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This image won photographer Mohammad Fahim Ahamed Riyad the Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year 2014 award.


Riyad reports that four people died in this incident, including a 6-year-old child. But no casualties were officially reported and the reason for the fire remains unknown.


"This photograph gains power from the contrast between evocation of heroic endeavour and a sense of dispiriting futility," says selector Brigitte Lardinois, who helped choose this submission from 10,000 others.


This image and other category winners are on display at the Royal Geographical Society in London from 23 June to 4 July 2014, followed by a tour across the UK.


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