Bangladesh air force jet crash: Students demand accurate info as toll rises to 31

Thousands of students on Tuesday protested in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka demanding "accurate" information on casualties and compensation for the families of those killed in a Bangladesh Air Force training jet crash into a school, as the death toll in the incident rose to 31, including 25 children, as per data provided by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the military.

The F-7 BGI aircraft, a training fighter jet manufactured in China, experienced a "mechanical fault" moments after takeoff and crashed into a two-storey building of Milestone School and College in Dhaka's Uttara area on Monday, according to officials.

Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus' special adviser Saidur Rahman told reporters that 25 of the deceased were children and many of them under the age of 12, who succumbed to extensive burn injuries. The pilot and one teacher were among the dead.

The ISPR said 165 injured are undergoing treatment at 10 hospitals. Authorities fear the toll could further rise as conditions of some of the injured were critical.

The Bangladesh Air Force has formed a high-level investigation committee to determine the cause of the accident.

Hundreds of students of Milestone School and College, as well as from nearby schools, protested, demanding the "accurate" disclosure of information about those killed, compensation for victims' families and the immediate discontinuation of outdated and unsafe training aircraft used by the Bangladesh Air Force.

Law adviser Asif Nazrul, education adviser C.R. Abrar, and the chief adviser’s press secretary Shafiqul Alam visited the crash site, where agitating students confronted them and shouted slogans in favour of their demands. The advisers took shelter inside one of the school buildings at around 10.30 am.

Despite security vigils by army and paramilitary troops, the students laid siege to the building where the advisers took shelter. They alleged that the authorities were deliberately hiding the actual death toll.

Their demands included a complete list of the injured; a public apology for the assault on teachers by army personnel at the crash site, and reforms in Air Force training procedures to ensure safety. Adviser Nazrul reportedly said all demands of the students were valid.

Amid tight security, the advisers and the chief adviser's press secretary managed to leave the college premises at 7.33 pm local time after staying there for nine hours.

Separately, hundreds of students besieged the Bangladesh Secretariat complex in Dhaka, where security forces used batons and fired tear gas to disperse them when they tried to forcefully open the entrance. Several students were reportedly injured in police action.

The Daily Star and other newspapers reported that around 40 people injured in and around the Secretariat were brought to DMCH. But witnesses said a large section of the protesters regrouped on the main road in front of nearby Stadium Market, where police again tried to remove them using teargas shells and sound grenades.

The students also blocked a major highway connecting the southwestern river port city of Barishal with the rest of Bangladesh and main thoroughfares at the southeastern seaport city of Chattogram.

The students were demanding the resignation of the education adviser and his ministry’s senior secretary, accusing them of mishandling the ongoing higher secondary examination. In a pre-dawn announcement, the government earlier postponed the exam, creating confusion for thousands of students who were attending. The information adviser said the government withdrew the education ministry’s senior secretary Siddiq Zubair from his post.

In a statement, Yunus’ office refuted the students' claim that the government was hiding the death toll. "We are observing with deep concern that different quarters are spearheading a misleading campaign that the casualty figures are being concealed. We want to firmly inform all that the claim is not correct,” it said.

Meanwhile, the army in a statement said during their hectic rescue campaign, the rush of onlookers disrupted their operation. "As a result, a misunderstanding and quarrel occurred between a group of onlookers and the army troops on duty,” the army statement said.

It added that the army has launched an investigation into the incident and appropriate administrative actions would be taken against those found guilty.

The school authorities and hospital staff said several parents were frantically looking for their missing children throughout the night. Rahman told reporters that 20 bodies had been handed over to their families so far.

"We are continuing all possible efforts to provide medical care. However, the condition of some patients remains extremely critical," Rahman told reporters at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery (NIBPS) in the capital.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh observed national mourning on Tuesday, keeping its national flag at half-mast atop all government, semi-government, and autonomous bodies and educational institutions across the country. The Supreme Court and all lower judiciary across Bangladesh observed a one-minute silence.

Officials said the crashed aircraft is the final and most advanced variant of China's Chengdu J-7/F-7 aircraft family. Bangladesh signed a contract for 16 aircraft in 2011, and deliveries were completed by 2013.

The pilot attempted to steer the aircraft away from densely populated areas. However, despite his efforts, the aircraft tragically crashed into the two-storey building of the school, the ISPR said.

The crash was one of the deadliest in Bangladesh’s history. In the last such aviation tragedy in 1984, a total of 49 people were killed when a passenger jet crashed as it attempted to land during a severe rainstorm at Dhaka airport.