At least 16 killed, mostly students, as Bangladesh Air Force jet crashes into school campus in Dhaka
Tragedy struck Dhaka on Monday afternoon when a Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft plummeted onto the Milestone School and College campus in the Uttara area, killing at least 16 people—most of them students—and injuring over 100 others.
Authorities report that at least 83 of the injured are currently receiving treatment across multiple hospitals. The crash sent shockwaves through the community as terrified students fled the scene in panic.
Television footage captured thick smoke and flames billowing from the site of the crash, with bystanders desperately trying to extinguish the fire. The Bangladesh Army’s public relations office confirmed that the downed aircraft was an F-7 BGI jet belonging to the Air Force.
Muhammad Yunus, interim leader, assured the public that a thorough investigation would be launched to determine the cause of the accident, and that all necessary support would be provided to victims and their families. “The loss suffered by the Air Force, students, parents, teachers, staff, and the wider community is deeply irreparable,” he said.
Local reports indicate the plane crashed onto the roof of the college canteen, making the devastation even more heartbreaking.
This tragic incident echoes a recent catastrophe in neighboring India, where an Air India flight crashed into a medical college hostel in Ahmedabad in June, killing 241 passengers and 19 people on the ground—the deadliest aviation disaster in the world in a decade.
A preliminary investigation into that crash revealed that fuel switches on the doomed Boeing 787 Dreamliner were unintentionally set to cutoff moments after takeoff, causing both engines to lose thrust. The cockpit voice recordings captured urgent distress calls as the pilots struggled to regain control, but the jet ultimately crashed, engulfing the hostel in flames.
Experts emphasize that there was no evident mechanical fault with the aircraft or its engines. However, the cause of the fuel cutoff remains unclear, raising troubling questions about whether it was a pilot error or a technical anomaly.
As Bangladesh mourns today’s tragic loss, officials vow to learn from past disasters to prevent future heartbreak.