Bangladesh: Airforce plane crashes into school; 20 killed, 171 injured

A Bangladesh Air Force training fighter jet crashed into a school building in Dhaka shortly after takeoff on Monday, killing at least 20 people, mostly children, and injuring 171, in one of the deadliest aviation accidents in the country's recent history.

The F-7 BGI aircraft, a training fighter jet manufactured in China, crashed into the two-storey building of Milestone School and College at Diabari in Dhaka's Uttara area. The pilot, flight-lieutenant Mohammad Towkir Islam, was also killed in the crash.

According to an updated statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR), 20 people, including the pilot, have died and 171 others have been injured.

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, said the ISPR, the media wing of the military.

"All injured individuals are being promptly transported to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) and nearby hospitals for necessary treatment, with assistance from Air Force helicopters and ambulances," it said.

The aircraft crashed owing to a mechanical fault (details of which will be informed after investigation) after taking off from the Bangladesh Air Force Base AK Khandaker in Kurmitola at 1.06 pm local time as part of regular training, the statement said.

It said the chief of army staff and senior military officers rushed to the crash site where rescuers, including firefighters, army troops, police and elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), continued their rescue operations. A high-level investigation committee has been formed by the Bangladesh Air Force to determine the cause of the accident, the statement added.

Brigadier-General Zahed Kamal, director-general of fire service and civil defence, earlier told reporters that the crash and the subsequent fire killed 19 people. At least 50 others were critically injured, he added.He said rescuers recovered 19 bodies from the school compound alone while the rescue operation was underway.

Earlier, Md Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus for the health ministry, said injured people, mostly students, were being treated at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Dhaka Medical College Hospital, and the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery (NIBPS).

According to doctors, eight of the injured were in critical condition. "The number of injured people being brought to our facility is rising,” a doctor at NIBPS told reporters.

Fire service officials earlier said the jet crashed atop a four-storey building of the school with a big bang and immediately caught fire. According to police, firefighting units, ambulances, and air force helicopters rushed to the scene soon after the crash.

A teacher of the school, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said security personnel were putting bodies in body bags to be taken to Dhaka’s CMH from the damaged building, which housed classes from one to seven. "Dozens of ambulances were carrying the wounded to nearby hospitals,” she said. 

One report from AP quoted Rafiqa Taha, a 16-year-old student who was not present in school when the crash happened, who said the institution had around 2,000 students, from elementary to Class XII. "I was terrified watching videos on TV," she said. "My God! It's my school."The National Burn Institute in the capital said they were treating 18 people, mostly students, some with critical conditions.

The interim government has declared one day of state mourning on 22 July, when the national flag will be flown at half-mast across Bangladesh and its missions abroad.

Yunus expressed shock and sorrow over the casualties caused by the crash. "I am deeply saddened by the casualties caused by the heartbreaking accident involving a Bangladesh Air Force jet at the Milestone School and College campus," he said in a statement.

Fahim Hossain, an eleventh-grade student, said the jet crashed right in front of his eyes, just 10 feet ahead of him. "It hit the ground floor of a two-storey building at around 1.15 pm, where classes for the primary section were on," Fahim told the Daily Star.

The plane crashed in front of classrooms used by class 3 and 4 students. Recounting the experience, a teacher who was injured in the incident said students were lining up to leave the school just as the final bell rang when the flames erupted.

"There was no warning. Before we even understood what was happening, there were flames all around. Visibility dropped instantly. All I could see was fire, then smoke," the teacher said. "Both of my hands were burnt. I'm also experiencing breathing difficulties, and my face and ears are scorched."

Witnesses said many of the wounded were carried away by spontaneous volunteers and army troops from the crash site, even in rickshaws and tricycle vans.

"We transported some of the injured with burns onto rickshaws and vans. Their clothes were ripped apart, torn, and some even were walking towards rescue vehicles with burns on their bodies," said Nuruzzaman Mridha, a teacher.

The crash was one of the deadliest aviation accidents in Bangladesh in several decades, Bangla-language daily Prothom Alo reported.

Law, justice and parliamentary affairs adviser Asif Nazrul said today's crash was "a great tragedy in our national life on an unprecedented scale". Three platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have been deployed at the crash site to assist the law enforcement and rescue operations, according to a BGB press release.

With PTI inputs