Dhaka, July 21: A Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crashed into the Milestone School and College campus in Dhaka’s Uttara area on Monday afternoon, killing at least 19 people and injuring more than 50 others, many of them children, officials said.
The F-7 BGI jet, used for training purposes, took off at 1:06 p.m. local time (0706 GMT) and went down shortly afterward, the military’s public relations wing confirmed. The cause of the crash remains unknown, prompting an urgent investigation ordered by the interim government.
Eyewitness accounts and dramatic footage showed plumes of thick black smoke billowing from the crash site as the aircraft burst into flames near the school lawn. Crowds gathered at a distance while rescue personnel raced to contain the blaze.
Firefighters sprayed water on the smoldering wreckage, which had torn into the side of a school building, leaving a gaping hole and twisted iron grills. A fire department official confirmed the death toll, stating that search and recovery efforts were continuing late into the afternoon.
At the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, doctors said several of the injured were in critical condition. “A third-grade student was brought in dead, and three others—aged 12, 14, and 40—are being treated for severe burns,” said Dr. Bidhan Sarker, who heads the unit.
Many victims were reportedly students or guardians present on campus during dismissal hours. Visuals from the scene showed shocked and weeping family members outside hospitals, while others searched frantically for missing loved ones.
“I was at the gate waiting to collect my children when I heard a loud explosion,” said Masud Tarik, a teacher at the college. “When I turned around, all I could see was smoke and flames.”
In an official statement, interim Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus expressed condolences and said the government would provide “all kinds of assistance” to the affected families. “This is an irreparable loss—not just to the Air Force, but to students, parents, teachers, and the wider community,” he said, promising a thorough probe into the incident.
The crash comes just weeks after a devastating Air India accident in Ahmedabad killed over 260 people, marking a second major South Asian aviation disaster in as many months.
Officials from the Air Force and civil aviation authorities have begun examining the crash site and recovering black box data. No details were immediately available about the condition of the pilot or if an ejection attempt had been made.
Grief has enveloped the campus and surrounding neighborhoods, with schools in the area announcing closures for the next two days. Local authorities urged residents to avoid the crash zone while rescue operations were underway.
The tragedy has sparked fresh questions about the safety of training flights conducted over densely populated urban areas in Bangladesh.
