Mishap: 20 dead as China-made BAF training aircraft crashes into Dhaka school campus
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Nearly 20 people, including school students, died and around 100 were wounded when a Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) training aircraft crashed into a college and school campus in Dhaka on Monday afternoon.
According to military and fire officials, the Chinese-made F-7 BGI aircraft, piloted by Flight Lieutenant Towkir Islam Sagar, crashed into the campus of Milestone School and College in the Uttara neighborhood in the afternoon, as students were attending classes.
Quoting a doctor at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, the media reported that more than 50 people, including children and adults, were hospitalised with burns.
“A third-grade student was brought in dead, and three others, aged 12, 14, and 40, were admitted to the hospital,” Dr. Bidhan Sarker, head of the burn unit at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, said.
“Bangladesh Air Force’s F-7 BGI training aircraft crashed in Uttara. The aircraft took off at 13:06 (0706 GMT),” the reports quoted the military’s public relations department as saying in a statement.
Confirming the crash, the Bangladesh Army’s public relations office issued a brief statement saying that the downed F-7 BGI aircraft belonged to the Air Force. Apart from stating the death of one person died and four others were injured, no other details were provided.
With the crowds watching from a distance, several videos showed the aftermath of the crash where a big fire near a lawn emitting a thick plume of smoke into the sky could be seen.
To douse the smoke and possible fire, firefighters sprayed water on the mangled remains of the plane. The jet damaged iron grills and created a gaping hole in the structure.
Muhammed Yunus, Chief Advisor to the Interim Bangladesh Government, said “necessary measures” would be taken to investigate the cause of the accident.
“The loss suffered by the Air Force…students, parents, teachers and staff, and others in this accident is irreparable,” he said.
