At least 19 individuals were killed when a Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crashed into a college and school campus in the capital city of Dhaka on Monday, a fire services official reported. Over 50 people, including both children and adults, were hospitalized with burn injuries, a doctor from the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery informed reporters.
Officials confirmed that the incident occurred at the Milestone School and College, located in the northern Uttara area of Dhaka. “Bangladesh Air Force’s F-7 BGI training aircraft crashed in Uttara. The aircraft took off at 13:06 [local time],” the military’s public relations department stated in an official release.
Videos from the crash’s aftermath depicted a large fire near a lawn, sending a dense plume of smoke billowing into the sky, as onlookers watched from a distance. Reuters TV footage showed firefighters spraying water on the mangled wreckage of the plane, which appeared to have slammed into the side of a building, causing damage to iron grills and creating a significant hole in the structure.
Bidhan Sarker, head of the burn unit at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, where some victims were transported, stated, “A third-grade student was brought in dead, and three others, aged 12, 14, and 40, were admitted to the hospital.” The visuals also captured scenes of people screaming and crying while others attempted to console them.
Masud Tarik, a teacher at the school, recounted, “When I was picking up my kids and went to the gate, I realized something came from behind… I heard an explosion. When I looked back, I only saw fire and smoke.” Muhammad Yunus, head of Bangladesh’s interim government, pledged that “necessary measures” would be taken to investigate the accident’s cause and “ensure all kinds of assistance.” He expressed, “The loss suffered by the Air Force… students, parents, teachers and staff, and others in this accident is irreparable.”
This incident occurred just over a month after an Air India plane crashed onto a medical college hostel in neighboring India’s Ahmedabad city, resulting in the deaths of 241 out of 242 people on board and 19 on the ground, marking it as the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade.
