A tragic airplane accident shook the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka, today when a military aircraft of the Bangladesh Air Force crashed into the campus of the "Milestone School and College", in the Diabari neighborhood, causing a death toll that currently includes the pilot and eighteen people on the ground. At least sixty injured, many of whom are students with severe burns.

The disaster occurred shortly after 1:00 PM local time this Monday, July 21, when a Chengdu F-7 BGI training aircraft crashed a few minutes after takeoff. The Inter-Services Public Relations (Ispr), the public relations office of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, confirmed the incident.

According to initial reconstructions, the jet violently impacted the entrance area of the building, precisely while classes were in session. The impact triggered a large fire, with a dense column of black smoke visible for kilometers. Eight fire brigade units rushed to the scene of the accident to extinguish the flames. Lima Khanam, an officer on duty at the central operations room of the fire department, stated that her team recovered a lifeless body from the wreckage of the aircraft—likely the pilot, the sole occupant—while the air force helped transport some injured to the nearest hospital. 

The gravity of the situation was confirmed by Shah Bulbul, spokesperson for the "Milestone School and College", who described the scene of young students trapped inside the impacted buildings. Eyewitness accounts and images on social media showed harrowing scenes of victims being carried away on improvised stretchers and loaded into ambulances. Two platoons of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) intervened to support rescue operations and maintain order in an area rapidly congested.

Death toll and condition of the injured

Authorities have confirmed a heavy toll: the jet pilot and eighteen people on the ground lost their lives in this tragedy. Shawon Bin Rahman, surgeon at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, stated that the emergency department received at least thirty patients, a number steadily increasing. Most of the wounded are students, and their conditions are described as critical: many present extensive burns. Other injured parties, with minor burns, were treated at hospitals such as Crescent Hospital in Uttara, where, according to administrative director Nazmul Islam, fifteen patients were cared for, including two teachers and the rest students. The most severe cases, with burns over 30% of the body, were transferred to specialized intensive care units.

Investigations have already been launched by the competent authorities, including the Air Force and the Police, to determine the exact causes of this tragic crash. The government of Bangladesh has expressed deep condolences for the victims and assured full support to the affected families and the wounded, while the local community rallies around the school institution in this moment of sorrow.

Attached below is a video from "India Today":