
At least 19 killed after Bangladesh Air Force training jet crashes into a Dhaka school
According to the military and a fire official, the Chinese-made F-7 BGI aircraft crashed into the campus of Milestone School and College, in the Uttara neighborhood, in the afternoon as students were attending classes.
The military said the jet took off at 1:06 p.m. local time and crashed soon after, catching fire immediately. The cause was not immediately clear.
8 A Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crashed into a school campus in the capital, Dhaka, on Monday, killing at least 18 people and injuring 164 others, the military said.
AP
8 The incident occurred at the Milestone School and College in Dhaka's northern area of Uttara, officials said.
AP
It is the deadliest airplane crash in the Bangladeshi capital in recent memory.
Local media indicated most of the injured were students. Relatives panicked at the scene as rescuers, using tricycle rickshaws or whatever was available, transported the injured to local hospitals.
8 The military said the jet took off at 1:06 p.m. local time and crashed soon after, catching fire immediately.
Getty Images
A desperate scene unfolded as the crash occurred.
Local residents and rescuers carried wounded students on their laps, while worried parents ran frantically. One father sprinted with his daughter cradled in his arms. A mother cried out, having found her younger child, but desperately searching for her elder.
8 Damages are seen above after the Bangladesh Air Force F7 aircraft crashed into a building.
Getty Images
8 Bangladesh's fire service and security personnel conduct a search and rescue operation after an Air Force training jet crashed into a school in Dhaka on July 21, 2025.
AFP via Getty Images
Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus pledged an investigation into the crash, expressing his deep sorrow over the 'heartbreaking accident' at Milestone School and College.
8 Local media indicated most of the injured were students.
AFP via Getty Images
In a statement, he lamented the 'irreparable' loss suffered by 'Air Force personnel, students, parents, teachers, staff, and others,' calling it 'a moment of deep national grief.'
8 Firefighters and army members carry the body of a victim after the deadly crash.
REUTERS
8 People were screaming and crying after the Bangladesh Air Force F7 aircraft crashed into a building of Milestone College, according to reports.
Getty Images
Rafiqa Taha, a student who was not present at the time of the crash, told The Associated Press by phone that the school, with some 2,000 students, offers classes from elementary to twelfth grade.
'I was terrified watching videos on TV,' the 16-year-old said. 'My God! It's my school.'
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"It was like 30 or 40 thunderbolts falling from the sky," said Ahnaf Bin Hasan, an 18-year-old student whose voice still trembled two days after the crash. "I've never heard a sound like that in my life - it came from the sky. In a split second, the fighter jet flew over my head and crashed into the school building." The Bangladesh Air Force F-7 plane had plummeted from the sky and slammed into the primary school building of the Milestone School and College in Dhaka on Monday, marking Bangladesh's deadliest aviation disaster in decades. At least 31 people were killed - many of them schoolchildren under 12 - while waiting to be picked up, heading to coaching classes, or grabbing a quick snack. Clad in his chocolate brown shirt and black trousers, school badge pinned neatly, Ahnaf was chatting with a friend under a canopy on the playground of the sprawling 12-acre campus of Milestone School and College, in the busy Uttara neighbourhood. 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