DHAKA, Bangladesh– At least 19 people, most of them reportedly children, were killed and around 164 others injured Monday afternoon when a Bangladesh Air Force training jet crashed into a school building in the capital city of Dhaka.
According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, the pilot of the aircraft was among those killed.
The F-7 BGI fighter trainer aircraft took off at 1:06 p.m. local time and crashed approximately 24 minutes later into the Milestone School and College building in the Uttara area of Dhaka.
“As you all know, today an F-7 BGI fighter aircraft of the Air Force made a crash landing at approximately 1:00 p.m. in the two-story school building of our Milestone School and College’s Uttara branch. On the first floor of this building, there were third- and fourth-grade classrooms. On the second floor, there were second- and fifth-grade classrooms. The principal’s office and a meeting room were adjacent, and a coaching class was in progress at the time,” said Brigadier General Mohammad Zahed Kamal, Director General of Fire Service and Civil Defence, as quoted by Prothom Alo, a leading Bengali-language daily.
A teacher at Milestone College told The Daily Star that he was standing near the building when the aircraft struck the front of the three-story school, trapping multiple students inside.
“College teachers and staff rushed to help rescue the students. Army personnel arrived shortly afterward, followed by firefighters who joined the rescue efforts,” the teacher said.
The Bangladesh Army, along with eight firefighting units from the Fire Service and Civil Defence, responded quickly and began rescue operations, according to an official fire service statement.
The Dhaka Tribune reported that units from Uttara, Tongi, Pallabi, Kurmitola, Mirpur, and Purbachal fire stations were dispatched to the scene.
“Videos circulating on social media show several injured individuals being rescued from the rubble and transported to local hospitals,” the report said. Victims were taken to Uttara Adhunik Hospital, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Kurmitola General Hospital, Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital, Uttara Women’s Medical College Hospital, and Shaheed Monsur Ali Medical College Hospital. (Source: IANS)
