A Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crashed into Milestone School and College in Dhaka’s Uttara area on Monday afternoon, killing the pilot and 26 others—most of them students.
The crash sparked a major fire that gutted the two-story school building and injured over a hundred people, many with severe burns.
Authorities confirmed to Associated Press that 20 people died on the spot, while seven others succumbed to their injuries overnight.
As of Tuesday morning, 78 people, mostly students, remained hospitalised, with several in critical condition. A blood donation drive has been launched at the country’s primary burn hospital, where most of the injured are being treated. Some of the bodies were burned beyond recognition and may require DNA testing for identification. Twenty bodies have been handed over to families so far, the new agency reported.
The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Mohammed Toukir Islam, had taken off from AK Khandaker Air Force Base shortly after 1 pm and reportedly attempted to divert the Chinese-made F-7 BGI jet away from densely populated areas after experiencing a technical malfunction. However, the aircraft crashed directly into the school campus. The military has not yet confirmed whether the pilot attempted to eject before impact.
The incident triggered panic across the school, home to over 2,000 students. Local authorities were quoted saying 171 people were rescued using helicopters, ambulances, auto-rickshaws, and even by hand. Rescue work continued into the night as crews searched for missing persons. A crane was deployed to lift debris from the site.
