A Bangladeshi training fighter jet crashed into a school in Dhaka on Monday, killing at least 19 people and injuring dozens more in the country’s deadliest aviation accident in decades.
An AFP photographer at the scene witnessed fire and rescue teams carrying injured students on stretchers while military personnel worked to clear the wreckage.
According to a military statement, 19 people—including the pilot—were killed, and 20 others are critically injured. At least 51 individuals, mostly students, are receiving treatment at Dhaka’s National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute, its director Mohammad Nasir Uddin told AFP.
The Chinese-made F-7 BJI aircraft crashed shortly after students were dismissed from class at 1:00 pm (0700 GMT) at Milestone School and College.
A witness described hearing a massive blast that felt like an earthquake. Shafiur Rahman Shafi, an 18-year-old student, said, “We were on the senior playground when suddenly one of the two fighter planes crashed into the junior playground. It created a boom like a quake and then caught fire. The army arrived soon after.”
The interim government led by Muhammad Yunus declared a day of national mourning for Tuesday. Grieving parents and relatives gathered at the burn center, searching for their loved ones. Tofazzal Hossain, 30, tearfully recounted finding his eighth-grade cousin’s body after searching multiple hospitals.
In a post on X, Yunus expressed “deep grief and sorrow” over the tragedy, calling it “a moment of profound pain for the nation” and lamenting the “irreparable” losses suffered by the Air Force, students, parents, teachers, and staff of Milestone School and College.
This crash is the worst aviation disaster Bangladesh has faced in decades. The deadliest prior accident occurred in 1984 when a plane flying from Chattogram to Dhaka crashed, killing all 49 on board.
Last month, a commercial plane crashed in neighboring India, claiming 260 lives.
