At least 19 people were killed as 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 said.
According to a report by Reuters, a doctor from the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery told journalists that more than 50 individuals, including children with burn injuries, had been brought to the hospital.
Officials confirmed that the incident occurred at Milestone School and College in Uttara, a northern district of Dhaka.
The military’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) stated that the crash took place in Dhaka’s northern area of Uttara.
“A Bangladesh Air Force F-7 BGI training aircraft crashed in Uttara. The aircraft had taken off at 1:06 PM (0706 GMT),” the statement said.
Videos from immediately after the crash show a large fire near a lawn, with thick plumes of smoke rising into the sky as bystanders looked on from a distance.
Reuters TV footage showed firefighters spraying water on the wreckage of the aircraft, which had collided with a building, damaging its metal grille and leaving a large hole in the structure.
Dr. Badhan Sarkar, head of the burn unit at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, said, “A third-grade student was brought in dead, while three others—aged 12, 14, and 40—were admitted with injuries.”
Videos also captured scenes of people screaming, crying, and comforting each other. Masood Tariq, a teacher at the school, recounted, “When I went to pick up my children and reached the gate, I sensed something from behind. Suddenly, there was an explosion. When I turned around, all I could see was fire and smoke.”
Head of Bangladesh’s interim government, Mohammad Yunus, said that all necessary measures would be taken to investigate the causes of the crash and provide full support to the victims.
He further stated, “The loss suffered by the Air Force, students, parents, teachers, staff, and others in this tragedy is irreparable.”
This incident comes just over a month after a similar tragedy occurred in Ahmedabad, India, where an Air India aircraft crashed onto the roof of a medical college hostel, killing 241 out of 242 people on board, along with 19 individuals on the ground. It was the deadliest aviation disaster in the past decade.
