Nineteen people, including a sixth-grader, died Monday after a Bangladeshi fighter jet crashed into the Milestone School and College campus in the Uttara neighborhood of the capital, Dhaka.
Sixteen children, two teachers, and the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Mohammed Toukir Islam, died in the early afternoon crash. More than 100 people, many of them students, were injured, some with severe burns, and were rushed to nearby medical centers, Bangladeshi authorities reported.
At least eight people are in critical condition, doctors confirmed, while a medical professional at the National Institute of Burns and Plastic Surgery in the city indicated that the number of injured is rising.
The country’s interim leader, Mohammed Yunus, expressed his deep sorrow for the incident in a post on X. “The loss suffered by the Air Force, the students, parents, teachers and staff of Milestone School and College, as well as others affected by this accident, is irreparable,” he stated. At least 19 people died and 164 were injured after a Bangladesh Air Force training plane crashed into a school campus in the capital, Dhaka.
Images from Milestone School and College, in the northern suburb of Uttara, show a large fire and thick smoke after the plane crashed into a two-story building.
The armed forces said in a statement on Facebook that the F-7 aircraft suffered a mechanical failure after taking off for a training exercise shortly after 1:00 p.m. local time (07:06 GMT). The pilot was among those killed, the air force added.
More than 50 people, including children and adults, were taken to the hospital with burns, according to a doctor at the National Institute of Burns and Plastic Surgery.
The age range of the students attending the school is between four and 18 years old.
A professor at the university, Rezaul Islam, told BBC Bangla that he saw the plane crash directly into the building.
Another professor, Masud Tarik, told Reuters that he heard an explosion: “When I looked back, I only saw fire and smoke… There were many tutors and children there.”
A student claimed to have seen the plane hit the building “right before my eyes.”
The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Md. Taukir Islam, had tried to steer the plane to a less populated area after the mechanical failure, according to the military statement. He had just taken off from an air base in the capital.
The injured have been taken to nearby hospitals, while emergency crews continue rescue operations at the scene. An investigative committee has been formed to investigate the incident, the statement added.
Images from the scene show dozens of emergency workers sifting through the charred rubble to try to find survivors, while crowds of onlookers who climbed onto surrounding buildings watched.
Reuters. Crowds of people line the streets and buildings under construction, watching an ambulance move through the crowd.
Muhammad Yunus, leader of Bangladesh’s interim government, said that “necessary measures” would be taken to investigate the cause of the incident and “ensure all kinds of assistance.”
“This is a moment of deep sorrow for the nation. I wish the injured a speedy recovery and instruct all authorities, including the hospitals involved, to treat the situation with the utmost importance,” he said in a post on X.
Bangladesh has declared a day of mourning on Tuesday, when the national flag will fly at half-mast across the country.
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