Plane crash death toll surpasses 22

thedailymorningsun.com
published 22 July, Tuesday, 2025 03:11:38
Plane crash death toll surpasses 22

Special Correspondent //


Some of the students were in class, some were preparing to return home after the holidays. Parents were waiting outside. Like any other day, there was a familiar bustle on Monday afternoon in the Milestone School and College premises in Uttara, the capital. Suddenly, a loud noise was heard after 1 pm. In an instant, everything was thrown into chaos with fire, smoke and screams.

It was later learned that the Air Force’s FT-7 BGI fighter jet crashed into a two-story building on the school premises. The Chinese-made fighter jet, used for training purposes, crashed into the school building in Uttara due to a mechanical fault. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the plane crashed into the school building shortly after taking off from the AK Khandaker Air Force Base in Kurmitola in the capital at 1:06 pm. The Fire Service and Civil Defense received this news at 1:18 pm.

Immediately after the plane crashed, the school building caught fire. The surrounding area was filled with the screams of burnt children and the cries of parents and relatives frantically searching for their children. As of 1 am yesterday, at least 22 people have been reported dead in this tragic incident. At least 171 people have been injured.

Eyewitnesses to the incident said that the plane crashed during school holidays. Some were coaching after classes. There was a children’s play swing next to the building where the plane crashed. Some were on the swing at the time. Therefore, most of the casualties were children.

According to information from the scene and various hospitals, there were a total of 16 reporters and photojournalists at the scene, who spoke to those concerned. There were also five people from the multimedia department.

Rescue work began immediately after the plane crashed. Volunteers including the fire service, armed forces, police, BGB, RAB, Ansar, Scouts and others rushed to the scene. Many died before being rescued and taken to the hospital. Flight Lieutenant Md. Tauqir Islam, who had exited the plane before it crashed, also died.

After the rescue, the victims were taken by ambulance to various hospitals in Uttara, including Dhaka Medical College Hospital and the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery. At least eight hospitals were reported to have taken the victims. Later, relatives of the victims rushed from one hospital to another. The hospitals were overwhelmed with the cries and cries of relatives.

Doctors said that most of the injured were burned. The condition of many of them is critical. In addition, the bodies of many of the deceased were burned to such an extent that their faces are not even recognizable. In this situation, the government has informed that the bodies of those who cannot be identified immediately will be identified through DNA tests and later handed over to the families.

Professor Muhammad Yunus, Chief Advisor to the Interim Government, expressed deep shock and sorrow over the casualties. The government has declared a one-day state mourning today, Tuesday. Various political parties and organizations have expressed their condolences over the plane crash.

How the warplane crashed

The ISPR has given an explanation for the horrific plane crash in Uttara. They say the FT-7 BGI fighter jet was on a routine training flight. It then encountered a mechanical fault.

The ISPR said that to deal with the accident and avoid major damage, pilot Flight Lieutenant Md. Tauqir Islam tried his best to take the plane from a densely populated area to a sparsely populated area. But unfortunately, the plane crashed in an unexpected accident on a two-story building of Milestone School and College in Diabari, Dhaka.

Eyewitnesses and fire service sources said that the plane first crashed into the grounds of the educational institution. Then it moved forward, making a hole of about 30 yards. Then it hit the ground floor of a two-story building. The front part of the plane entered a classroom on the ground floor.

Some students said that various parts of the plane broke after the crash. At that time, the fire broke out. Most of those who were exiting the building through the stairs were killed.

Family members of the deceased pilot, Flight Lieutenant Tauqir Islam, said that he had flown a training aircraft alone for the first time yesterday.

A retired Air Force officer was interviewed to find out what kind of situation the pilot might have faced when the fighter jet crashed. The officer, who did not want to be named, said that the pilot exited the aircraft before it crashed. From this incident, it can be assumed that he had noticed a mechanical fault in the aircraft.

It is worth noting that a similar aircraft of the Air Force has crashed before. In November 2018, an Air Force F-7BG training aircraft crashed during a training exercise at the Rasulpur firing range in Madhupur, Tangail. Wing Commander Arif Ahmed Dipu was killed in the incident. Then in November 2021, an F-7MB crashed into the Bay of Bengal after taking off from Zahurul Haque Air Base in Chittagong. Flight Lieutenant Tahmid was killed in the crash.

A high-level investigation committee of the Air Force has been formed to investigate the cause of yesterday’s accident, the ISPR said.

Why so many casualties

Related people said that the casualties increased because the plane crashed into a school building and the incident occurred during the holidays.

Eyewitness to the incident and a 12th grade student, Mahim Hasan Siam, said that the building is called Project-2. There are a total of 16 classrooms on two floors in that building. And 4 teachers’ rooms. Classes from first to fifth grade were held in this building. The plane crashed in front of the third and fourth grade rooms. The students also said that students from sixth to eighth grade used to coach in the building after the holidays.

Brigadier General Mohammad Zahed Kamal, Director General of Fire Service and Civil Defense, gave a description of the time of the crash. After inspecting the scene at around 4:45 pm yesterday, he told reporters that the warplane made a ‘crash landing’ in the two-story school building of the Uttara branch of Milestone School and College. The first floor of this two-story building housed classes for third and fourth grades. The second floor housed classes for second and fifth grades. The principal’s meeting room was also located next to it.

While describing the moment the plane crashed, Mohammad Zahed Kamal said that a coaching class was going on at that time. The school was also out by then. Students had gathered at the scene. Their guardians were also with them.

No specific information was available about how many students were in the building at the time of the incident. However, eyewitnesses and several people involved in the incident said that there could have been 25-40 students there.

The school’s teacher, Purnima Das, wrote in a status on Facebook, “School breaks at 1 pm. Then some students were in the school for two hours of coaching. Students whose parents had not yet come to pick them up were waiting. At that time, the plane crashed.

Stating that 80 percent of the children had gone home at the time of the incident, Purnima Das said, “Before I knew it, I saw small children running. I saw that their whole bodies were on fire. I somehow went to the washroom and poured water on two or three of them.”

Injured in 8 hospitals

At around 7:30 pm yesterday, the ISPR said that the injured have been taken to eight hospitals in the capital. 22 people were killed and 171 were injured in the plane crash. One of them died around 10:30 pm and the other around 12 am while undergoing treatment, said Shaon Bin Rahman, resident surgeon at the Burn Institute.

Among the injured, the initial assessment showed that the condition of 25 people was critical, Special Assistant to the Chief Advisor Professor Md. Sayedur Rahman told reporters. He also said that 17 children were among the deceased. Of these, the bodies of 7 could not be identified. DNA tests will be needed to identify them.

Most of the deceased were reported to have died on the spot. Abul Kalam Azad, father of Muntaha Towa, a fifth-grade student of Milestone School and College, told Prothom Alo that he went to the scene 5-7 minutes after the plane crashed. The fire service had not arrived at the scene at that time. However, the army was carrying out rescue operations. He overtook the army and went ahead. When he went, he saw 10-15 people lying scattered. All of them were injured.

Relatives were seen running to various hospitals until last night in search of the victims. However, the number of people still missing is not known.

According to ISPR information, 70 of the injured have been admitted to the Burn Institute, 3 to Dhaka Medical College, 17 to Dhaka Combined Military Hospital (CMH), 60 to Uttara Modern Hospital, 11 to Uttara Lubna General Hospital and Cardiac Center, 8 to Kuwait Friendship Hospital, one to Kurmitola General Hospital and one to Uttara Crescent Hospital. However, it is known that many have changed hospitals for medical treatment.

The government will provide free treatment to those injured in the plane crash at Milestone School and College. Nurjahan Begum, Advisor to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said in a press release that instructions have been given to all private hospitals in addition to government hospitals to provide free medical services.

Challenges in the rescue operation

The last (Uttara Uttar) station of the Metrorail is near Milestone College, the site of the plane crash. When we got down at the station around 3 pm yesterday, we saw that general traffic had been stopped on the road leading to the institution. Only rescue vehicles and law enforcement vehicles were being allowed to pass. Walking a short distance, it was seen that numerous people were heading towards the scene.

Later, on reaching Milestone College Road, it was seen that law enforcement members were lined up on both sides of the road. Only relatives of the students and media personnel were being allowed to go near the scene. However, due to the crowd of eager people, law enforcement and students working as volunteers were struggling to manage the situation. Many were also seen bringing water and dry food for the volunteers and those working at the scene. At that time, some were looking for blood donors of different groups.

In the meantime, members of various forces and organizations, including the Fire Service, conducted the rescue operation. The Fire Service and Civil Defense said that the rescue operation was completed at 8:30 pm. However, a unit of the Fire Service was deployed there until the Air Force removed the wreckage of the crashed plane. Then at 9:10 pm, they also returned from the scene to the fire station.

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