Death toll rises to 27 in Bangladesh air force jet crash: Official
The F-7 BGI aircraft crashed shortly after taking off at 1:06 p.m. (0706 GMT) on Monday from the Kurmitola airbase in the capital during a routine training mission. The military said the plane suffered a mechanical failure.
Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to the chief adviser on health, told reporters that 27 people had died and 88 others were hospitalized with burn injuries.
The government declared a day of mourning, with flags at half-mast and special prayers held at places of worship.
The pilot was among those killed, and the military said a committee has been formed to investigate the crash.
The F-7 BGI is the final and most advanced variant in China's Chengdu J-7/F-7 aircraft family. Bangladesh signed a contract for 16 of the aircraft in 2011, with deliveries completed by 2013.
The crash comes just weeks after an Air India plane collided with a medical college hostel in Ahmedabad, India, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground in what was the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade.
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