At least 20 people were killed and over 170 others injured, mostly students, when a Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) fighter jet crashed into Milestone School and College at Uttara in the capital on Monday.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), a FT-7 BGI fighter jet took off around 1:06 PM from BAF Base A K Khandker at Kurmitola and shortly after, it crashed into a two-storey building of Milestone School and College.
While taking off, the fighter jet experienced a mechanical failure and subsequently crashed into Milestone School and College located in Diabari area at Uttara, an ISPR press release said.
The pilot of the aircraft, who sustained critical injures, died at Combined Military Hospital (CMH).
Sources at the Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD) said the tragic incident happened around 1:18pm.
The aircraft burst into flames immediately after the crash and smoke was bellowing up, according to witnesses.
Md Sabuj Miah, Assistant Professor of the Accounting Department at Milestone School and College, said the fighter jet crashed at the entrance to the school’s two-storey building.
School hours had just ended when the incident happened. Some students had already left the premises but many were still inside, he said adding. “The plane caught fire immediately after the crash.”
Nine fire-fighting units rushed to the scene to extinguish the blaze.
According to the FSCD, firefighters reached the scene around 1:22pm -- four to five minutes after the incident.
Later, members of Bangladesh Army, Air Force, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Ansar, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and volunteers including students of different classes of the school and professions also lend their hands to accelerate the rescue operation.
Nine firefighting units from Uttara, Tongi, Pallabi, Kurmitola, Mirpur, and Purbachal fire stations brought the fire under control at around 2:45pm, FSCD sources said.
All the injured were immediately transported to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) and nearby medical facilities by Bangladesh Air Force helicopters and ambulances.
Nuruzzaman Mridha, a chemistry teacher at Milestone School and College, said, “We helped transport several students with burn injuries in rickshaws and vans. Their clothes were torn and scorched, and some of them were seen walking towards rescue vehicles by covering their bodies.”
ISPR said, “In an effort to avoid major casualties and damage, the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Md Towkir Islam, made every possible attempt to steer the aircraft away from densely populated areas toward a less populated location. Unfortunately, the aircraft crashed into a two-storey building of Milestone School and College.”
“The exact nature of the malfunction is under investigation and will be disclosed upon completion.”
Mahim Hasan Siam, a Grade 12 student and eyewitness, said the school building is known as Project-2. It contains a total of 16 classrooms across both floors, along with four staff rooms for teachers. Classes for Grade 1 to Grade 5 students were held in this building.
The aircraft reportedly crashed directly in front of the classrooms for Grade 3 and Grade 4.
Students also said that after regular school hours, students from Grade 6 to Grade 8 attended coaching sessions at the same building.
While visiting the crash site, our correspondent saw the wreckage of the plane made it clear that the aircraft had fallen in front of the school building and skidded to a stop near the staircase of the building. The impact of its two wings destroyed two classrooms filled with students.
It was seen that the two affected rooms were completely burnt down.
According to the school guard, those rooms were used for primary-level classes.
The injured have been taken to different hospitals, including Crescent Hospital, Uttara Adhunik Hospital, Kuwait-Bangladesh Friendship Hospital, Uttara Lubna General Hospital and Cardiac Centre, Kurmitola General Hospital and National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.
Those who sustained serious burn victims were sent to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.
The ISPR has released the figures on the casualties and injured following the crash. A total of eight injured persons are currently receiving treatment at Kuwait-Bangladesh Friendship Hospital. At the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, 70 people are being treated, while two have been confirmed dead. At the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), 14 individuals are undergoing treatment, and 11 fatalities have been reported. Kurmitola General Hospital has reported 2 deaths. Uttara Lubna General Hospital and Cardiac Centre is treating 11 injured, with 2 deaths confirmed. At Uttara Adhunik Medical College Hospital, 60 people are under treatment and 1 fatality has been recorded. Additionally, 1 injured person is being treated at Uttara Crescent Hospital.
Brig Gen Muhammad Zahed Kamal, Director General of the FSCD, told reporters at the scene around 4:30pm that rescue workers had recovered 19 bodies from the rubble and that more than 50 injured and burnt people have been sent to hospitals.
Dr Shawon Bin Rahman, resident surgeon at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, had previously said: "So far, more than 50 have arrived. The number continues to rise. Most of the burn victims are students, and all of their conditions are critical.”
Dr Amal Kanti Nath, an emergency department physician at Uttara Adhunik Medical College Hospital, said: “Many of the injured have been brought here. We have referred at least 30–35 people to the burn unit whose conditions are critical. Those with less severe injuries are being treated here. Everyone arriving shows signs of burns on their bodies.”
“Many have burns on their hands, legs, and other parts of the body. It is also suspected that smoke inhalation has affected the airways of some patients. Prompt referrals have allowed treatment to begin on time for those in critical condition,” he added.
Nazmul Islam, director of the administration branch of Crescent Hospital in Uttara, said: “We have treated fifteen people. Two of them are teachers and the rest are students. We are treating those with minor burns here. Some are under observation.”
“Those with more than 30 percent burns are being referred to the burn unit. Some who came with minor injuries have been administered first aid and advised to seek treatment at home,” he added.
Flight Lieutenant Md Towkir Islam, the pilot of the Bangladesh Air Force fighter jet, managed to eject before the aircraft crashed. He sustained critical injuries during the incident and was immediately taken to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH). Despite efforts to save him, he later succumbed to his injuries, the Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR) confirmed.
A colleague of the pilot said it was his first solo flight. According to him, the pilot had completed a successful route over areas such as Rampura, Hatirjheel, and Mohakhali. However, at around 1:16 or 1:17pm, the aircraft suddenly went into a steep dive and ultimately crashed into a college building, he added.
Three platoons BGB have been deployed at the place of occurrence to assist the law enforcement and rescue operations, according to a BGB press release.
According to ISPR as the Chief of Air Staff is currently abroad on an official visit, the Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Administration), along with other senior Air Force officers and rescue teams, reached at the crash site.
“The Chief of Army Staff, Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division, and other senior military and government officials were also visited at the scene,” it added.
ISPR also said “A high-level investigation committee of the Bangladesh Air Force has already been formed to determine the cause of the accident.”
An emergency hotline number 01949-043697 has been launched at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery following the jet crash.
One coach of the metro trains departing from Uttara has been kept reserved to transport the injured from the Milestone College.
The government has declared a one-day state mourning on Tuesday in response to the tragic crash of a BAF fighter aircraft on the Milestone School and College campus.
The Press Wing of the Chief Advisor has released several emergency contact numbers for those seeking information about missing school students following the plane crash. The numbers are as follows: Military Rescue Brigade – 01769 024202, CMH Burn Unit – 01769 016019, CMH Emergency – 01769 013311, Milestone School Admin Officer – 01814 774132, Vice Principal of Milestone School – 01771 111766, National Emergency Service (999). This line will connect callers to the police emergency cell, which can then direct them to relevant burn units.
Several interim government advisers and top political leaders visited the burn institute to see the plane crash victims, drawing a large crowd outside the hospital.
On Monday afternoon, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Jamaat-e-Islami's Ameer Shafiqur Rahman visited the hospital.
Earlier, Legal Affairs Adviser Asif Nazrul, Adviser to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Muhammad Faozul Kabir Khan, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Cultural Affairs Adviser Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, Adviser to the Ministry of Industries Adilur Rahman Khan, Special Assistant (with the rank of State Minister) to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Professor Md. Sayedur Rahman, and the Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam, among others, had visited.
Around 4,000 students from playgroup to High Secondary Certificate level at Milestone School and College. established in 2007.
