At least 20 people have been killed and nearly 200 injured after a Bangladeshi air force fighter jet crashed into a school in the capital, Dhaka, on Monday afternoon. The Chinese-made F-7BGI training aircraft experienced a mechanical failure shortly after takeoff, according to the military, and ploughed into the Milestone school campus in the Uttara neighbourhood.
Witnesses described scenes of chaos as the jet hit a five-storey academic building before crashing onto a two-storey structure, triggering a massive explosion and fire. Many of the victims were young children who were either leaving classes or playing outside at the time of the crash. The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Md Towkir Islam, was also killed.
A secondary student at the school told the Guardian he was eating in the canteen when he heard a deafening noise and saw the plane hit the building. “In an instant, our school became a place of death,” he said. Teachers reported that the pilot appeared to try to steer the aircraft away from crowded areas but was unable to avoid the campus.
Bangladesh’s air force has formed a high-level investigation committee to determine the exact cause of the crash. The interim government led by Muhammad Yunus declared a day of national mourning on Tuesday, with the national flag to be flown at half-mast at all government and educational buildings and at Bangladeshi missions abroad.
The disaster is the deadliest aviation incident in Bangladesh in decades, surpassing previous military crashes. In a statement, Yunus expressed “deep grief and sorrow”, saying the loss was irreparable for the air force, the school community, and the nation.
