Fighting Helplessness with Code

On 21st July 2025, my country, Bangladesh, faced a tragedy that shook me to my core. A fighter jet crashed into a school building. I won’t describe the upsetting images that filled social media and the news, but seeing the struggles of children, parents, teachers, and emergency workers was deeply moving. What was supposed to be a normal Monday morning suddenly froze in sadness and shock.

As the day went on, social media feeds were full of photos and posts about missing children. Parents were desperately writing their children’s names and roll numbers, hoping for news. Thousands were recording the event live, while rescue workers did their best under pressure. And then came the political narratives, rumors, and fake news. It was overwhelming and confusing.

I kept wondering: why is there no official emergency incident management system here? Knowing how things usually work, I didn’t have to think long to guess the answer.

The Conspiracy Dilemma and Misinformation

Alongside the heartbreaking stories, social media was flooded with conspiracy theories, rumors, and fake news about casualty numbers, missing persons, and what really happened. Some posts tried to politicize the tragedy, which only added to the confusion and pain.

This misinformation made it harder for families to find reliable information and for rescue efforts to be coordinated. It also made me realize how important a trustworthy, centralized platform was—one that could cut through the noise and provide clear, verified updates.

What Could I Do? Code.

As a developer, I felt helpless but also driven to help. The best tool I had was code. So I decided to build something fast—a platform to collect and organize info about missing and injured people. There was no way to track if someone had been found or not, and people kept sharing old posts without updates. Speed was everything.

Within hours, I had a prototype running locally. I didn’t even think about naming it at first. Then I created accounts on Supabase and Vercel and called it sosconnectbd—a simple name that says what it does. The site went live at sosconnectbd.vercel.app.

What the Platform Does

During an active incident:

• Collects reports of missing and found individuals

• Organizes and updates information in real time

• Enables sharing of direct links to individual profiles

• Assists families and rescue workers in quickly tracking missing persons

After the incident has ended:

• Displays official data from authorities

• Preserves all user-generated data and statistics for comparison and reference

• Removes personal information such as phone numbers and other identifiers from reports and contributors to protect privacy

How It Worked

It started with a single post. I shared links on social media with two options: report someone missing or report someone found. With help from friends, the platform began to grow.

By midnight, over 120 people were online. The next day, we got 82 reports and 200+ updates. Instead of sharing random posts or old pictures, people shared direct URLs to profiles on the site, updating statuses in real time.

But Then… The Site Got Hacked (And It Was a Wild Ride)

The next morning, I woke up to a shock—the site was hacked. Messages appeared claiming the site was fake. Honestly, security wasn’t my priority during the rush to get it live. For speed, I was using the Supabase anon key directly from the frontend without Next.js API routes to protect it. Normally, using the anon key is fine, but I never imagined someone would exploit it like this.

The hacker kept pushing, injecting data through SQL vulnerabilities. It turned into a dramatic back-and-forth battle: every time he pushed bad data, I reset the database. This went on for hours. It was exhausting but I kept at it because the platform was too important.

Later, when I had time, I created proper API routes in Next.js and switched to using the service key on the backend instead of the anon key. That fixed the problem and secured the site.

Surprisingly, the hacker reached out on Facebook. He was concerned about phone numbers and public data being exposed. After explaining the situation and fixing the vulnerabilities, we ended up on good terms.

What Happened Next?

• In 24 hours, the site had more than 26,000 page views and 8,000 users.

• Updates keep coming in as people continue to use it.

• The platform takes off.

Lessons I Learned

• Speed is critical, but security cannot be ignored—even in emergencies.

• Community collaboration is powerful. The platform worked because people actively contributed.

• Transparency builds trust. Clear communication about data privacy helped resolve misunderstandings.

• Misinformation and rumors can cause real harm during crises. Trusted platforms are essential.

• Bangladesh urgently needs official emergency management systems.

Looking forward

After some improvements, I will open source the platform so others can help and adapt it.

Building sosconnectbd taught me that technology can turn helplessness into action. When tragedy strikes, creating solutions that bring people together can offer hope and help.

If you want to see or support the platform, visit sosconnectbd.vercel.app.