At the very least 20 individuals had been killed and practically 200 injured – a lot of them kids – when a Bangladeshi fighter jet on a routine coaching train crashed into a faculty in Dhaka within the nation’s worst aviation catastrophe in a long time.
The jet, a Chinese language-made F-7BGI, hit the non-public Milestone college within the capital as college students had been ending or had left afternoon lessons, witnesses mentioned. It reportedly struck a five-storey educational constructing earlier than crashing on to a two-storey construction on the campus, triggering a large explosion and fireplace.
Movies of the aftermath of the crash confirmed an enormous fireplace close to a garden, emitting a thick plume of smoke into the sky, as crowds watched from a distance. The Bangladeshi air pressure mentioned the jet had skilled a mechanical failure.
Ahmed, a secondary-age scholar at Milestone, which takes pupils from kindergarten to senior secondary, advised the Guardian: “I was eating at the school canteen when I suddenly heard a deafening noise. I saw the plane hit the building and then fall on to a smaller structure. It caught fire instantly. People were screaming and running. Flames engulfed many of the younger students.”
“Never in my life have I seen death so closely … The fire, the smoke, the panic – these sounds are now etched into my memory. In an instant, our school became a place of death.”
Mizanur Rahman, a instructor, mentioned he believed the pilot had tried to steer the aircraft away from crowded areas: “Our campus is large and lively, with open spaces. I was standing close to the crash site. Judging by the trajectory, it looked like the pilot was trying to reach the field behind the buildings – but probably didn’t make it. He even seemed to aim for one of the smaller structures when he was unsuccessful steering towards the field.”
Rahman mentioned many youthful pupils had been taking part in exterior school rooms as the college day neared its finish. “After the plane hit, there was a massive blast and an inferno swept through the surrounding area, engulfing the children. Some of our teachers and staff are still missing.”
Pictures from the scene additionally confirmed individuals screaming and crying as others tried to consolation them.
Bangladesh’s Inter-Providers Public Relations (ISPR), representing the armed forces, mentioned the fighter jet had developed a mechanical failure shortly after takeoff at 1.06 pm and crashed minutes later. The Uttara neighbourhood the place the crash occurred is a densely populated a part of northern Dhaka, a metropolis of greater than 20 million individuals.
ISPR mentioned a high-level investigation committee had been shaped by the Bangladesh air pressure to find out the precise trigger. Officers have confirmed that the pilot, Flt Lt Md Towkir Islam, is among the many useless.
Over the previous 20 years, Bangladesh has suffered a number of aircraft crashes involving army and civilian coaching flights, with not less than 15 fatalities – although none approached the size of Monday’s catastrophe. Most earlier incidents concerned solely army flight crew.
The deadliest occurred in 1984 when a aircraft flying from Chattogram to Dhaka crashed, killing all 49 on board.
The interim authorities of Muhammad Yunus introduced a day of nationwide mourning on Tuesday.
Yunus expressed “deep grief and sorrow” over the incident in a submit 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 mentioned.
“This is a moment of profound pain for the nation.”
The federal government has declared a day of mourning on Tuesday, the place the nationwide flag might be flown at half mast throughout all authorities and academic institutions and at Bangladeshi missions overseas. Particular prayers might be held at locations of worship throughout the nation.
The incident comes just a little over a month after an Air India aircraft crashed on high of a medical school hostel in Ahmedabad in neighbouring India, killing 241 of the 242 individuals onboard and 19 on the bottom, making it the world’s worst aviation catastrophe in a decade.
