Nineteen people – including a Class VI student – died after a Bangladesh fighter jet crashed into the campus of the Milestone School and College in capital Dhaka’s Uttara neighbourhood Monday.
The pilot – identified as Flight Lieutenant Mohammed Toukir Islam – 16 children, and two teachers were killed in the crash that took place early afternoon. Over 100 people, many of whom are students, were injured, some with severe burns, and have been rushed to nearby medical facilities.
At least eight of the injured are in critical condition, doctors said, while a medical professional at the city’s National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery said the number of injured is increasing.
The country’s interim leader, Mohammed Yunus expressed “deep grief and sorrow” over 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 said.
“This is a moment of profound pain for the nation.”
Bangladesh Fighter Jet Crash
The plane that crashed was an F-7BGI, an advanced version of the Chinese J-7 fighter. It took off at 1.06 pm on a training flight but crashed shortly afterwards, a fire service official told The Associated Press into a building where students were taking tests or attending regular classes.
Rafiqa Taha, a student who was not present when the plane crash, told AP by phone the institution has around 2,000 students, and runs classes from elementary to Class XII.
“I was terrified watching videos on TV,” the 16-year-old said, “My God! It’s my school.”
TV footage from the crash site and videos shared online showed fire and smoke billowing while emergency personnel try to put out the blaze. One haunting clip, shared by news agency PTI, showed the wrecked jet engine buried under the rubble of what was once a classroom.
Another video, shot from a distance, showed a swarm of people rushing to the burning wreckage and a massive fire burning through the one-storey school building.
And a third video, perhaps the most distressing of the lot, showed an injured man – covered in soot and debris, with his clothes torn and hanging by threads – led away by a bystander.
