Bangladesh: Many killed after plane crashes into school – DW – 07/21/2025
At least 19 people were killed and dozens injured on Monday when a training aircraft of the Bangladesh Air Force crashed into a school campus in Dhaka, marking the country's deadliest aviation accident in decades, authorities said.
"The bodies of those whose identities can be confirmed will be handed over to their families as soon as possible," Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus said on X. "The bodies of those whose identities cannot be immediately confirmed will be identified through DNA testing and subsequently handed over to their families."
"To ensure uninterrupted medical operations, the general public is specially requested to avoid unnecessary crowding in the hospital area," he added.
At least 19 people were killed and more than 100 were injured in the crash, with at least 83 needing hospital treatment, the office of Yunus said.
The Chinese-made F-7 BJI aircraft took off at 1:06 pm local time (0706 GMT) and crashed soon after at the Milestone School and College campus. The educational institution is located in the Uttara neighborhood and students were in class at the time of the accident. The school has students from elementary up to 12th grade.
Footage of the aftermath of the crash showed a big fire near a lawn emitting a thick plume of smoke into the sky, as crowds watched on from afar.
Firefighters sprayed water on the mangled remains of the plane, which appeared to have rammed into the side of a building, damaging iron grills and creating a gaping hole in the structure, Reuters TV visuals showed.
The cause of the crash is not yet known and the government said it would launch an investigation.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Bangladesh's deadliest ever aviation disaster occurred in 1984 when a plane flying from Chattogram to Dhaka crashed, killing all 49 on board.
Monday's incident comes a little over a month after an Air India plane crashed on top of a medical college hostel in India's Ahmedabad city, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground, making it the world's deadliest aviation disaster in a decade.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
DW
2 days ago
- DW
Amid Gaza's forced scarcities, Palestinians fight to survive – DW – 07/24/2025
Gaza's displaced are facing severe food shortages and limited aid amid the ongoing conflict. Aid deliveries remain limited, leaving many families struggling to access basic necessities in a worsening humanitarian crisis. Every day is filled with anxiety and exhaustion. The constant Israeli bombardment, lack of sleep and search for food are overwhelming for Gaza's displaced population. "The day revolves around thinking about where to find food for my family," said Raed al-Athamna, a displaced Palestinian father in Gaza City, who spoke to DW by phone since foreign journalists are not allowed in Gaza. "There is nothing to eat. There is no bread, as I cannot afford to buy flour. It is too expensive. Today, we had some lentils for the kids and my mom, but tomorrow, I don't know." Al-Athamna, who previously worked as a driver for foreign journalists in Gaza, said he no longer had the words to describe the situation. "There are Israeli airstrikes and shelling all the time. I've seen people fainting in the streets because they haven't eaten. Social media is full of videos of people just collapsing." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video DW last spoke with al-Athamna in May, just after the Israeli government first permitted some aid trucks into Gaza after a nearly three-month blockade. At the time, he thought the situation could not get any worse for Gaza's 2.1 million people. Two months on, al-Athamna described the situation as "really bad. You cannot find a piece of bread, it is a very difficult situation. I am here with my grandkids, they are crying, they keep saying: 'We want a piece of bread.' And if you cannot give them anything, they don't understand. This breaks your heart." International health and aid organizations have repeatedly sounded the alarm over conditions and the lack of vital supplies in Gaza during the 21-month conflict. According to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, almost 88% of Gaza is now under evacuation orders or designated as military zones. These areas include most of Gaza's agricultural land, concentrating the displaced population in increasingly limited space and complicating humanitarian access. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that a large proportion of Gaza's population was starving. "I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation, it's man-made and that's very clear," he stated. Ross Smith, emergency director at the World Food Program (WFP), said Monday that Gaza's hunger crisis "has reached new and astonishing levels of desperation." He said that "a third of the population are not eating for multiple days in a row, this includes women and children." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video On Thursday, Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry reported that so far in July 48 Palestinians had died from malnutrition, with 59 dying of malnutrition since the start of 2025. That number is up from 50 in 2024 and four in 2023 when Israel started its war against the Hamas militant group in Gaza following Hamas' attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Israeli officials have disputed such claims, characterizing them as propaganda. Eyad Amin, a father of three young children who has found shelter in Gaza City, is desperate. "Food is unavailable, and when it is available, it's very expensive," the 43-year-old told DW. Amin, a former stationery shop owner, managed to buy some vegetables but at prices most people cannot afford. "Today I bought two potatoes, two tomatoes, and a few green peppers. These simple items cost me 140 shekels [around €36/$42]," he said. Like most Palestinians in Gaza, Amin has no income but gets assistance from relatives abroad. Those without such support face greater hardship. Sherine Qamar, a mother of two children in northern Gaza City, relies on support from her parents. "We practically live without food, and what we eat is just to survive. We have all lost a lot of weight, I personally lost 15 kilograms [33 pounds] in the last four months," she said. Medical care presents additional challenges. "When my children get sick due to malnutrition or things like the flu, we cannot find any medicine in hospitals or pharmacies, and we have to wait long hours at international organizations and hospitals to obtain painkillers," Qamar told DW. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In March, Israeli authorities closed Gaza's crossing, citing concerns about aid diversion by Hamas. These restrictions were partially lifted in May, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming Israel was acting to prevent a "starvation crisis." Aid distribution shifted from established UN mechanisms to the controversial US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which distributes pre-packed food boxes from three locations in Israeli-controlled militarized zones. Currently, an average of 28 aid trucks enter Gaza daily, according to UN figures, which aid organizations have said falls short of population needs. MedGlobal, a US-based NGO operating nutrition centers in Gaza, reported that "cases of acutely malnourished children have nearly tripled" since the beginning of July. "There is no more buffer," John Kahler, MedGlobal co-founder and a pediatrician who worked in Gaza last year, told DW. "When you get a virus suddenly you have diarrhea, that will push you over the edge because you don't have any physical reserve left." "The terrible thing in Gaza," he added, "is that everyone knows that food supplies are just 10 kilometers [6.2 miles] away." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The Coordinator of the Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Israel's military body overseeing crossings, told DW that "950 aid trucks are waiting on the Palestinian side" of entry points. The body claimed that Israel does not restrict humanitarian aid to Gaza, but did acknowledge "significant challenges in collecting trucks on the Gaza side." The UN has repeatedly said the backlog at the crossing was due to multiple difficulties, among them the coordination with the Israeli military. Trucks cannot move without their authorization, to ensure they can travel relatively safely from the crossing to the warehouse and distribution centers without coming under fire from the Israeli military. Due to supply scarcity, looting has increased. On Sunday, a WFP convoy came under fire, resulting in casualties among people waiting for aid. In recent weeks, at least 875 people have been killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid at one of the distribution points by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation or while waiting for UN trucks carrying supplies, according to the UN. "I only went one time to get aid. But I don't go anymore. If you are hit or injured, no one helps you. You will just die there. There is nothing in the hospitals to help you either," said al-Athamna from Gaza City. He added that the broader situation has become impossible. "You either die being bombed, or you die not having food. They keep talking to politicians about a ceasefire, but nothing happens, and things only get worse. What are we supposed to do?"
Int'l Business Times
2 days ago
- Int'l Business Times
Plane Crash In Russia's Far East Kills Nearly 50 People
A passenger plane carrying nearly 50 people crashed in a remote area of Russia's far eastern Amur region on Thursday, killing all on board, authorities said. The plane, a Soviet-made twin-propeller Antonov-24, went down in remote, thickly forested terrain, leaving a column of smoke pouring from the crash site and no signs of survivors, according to state media and videos published by investigators. The Angara Airlines flight was headed to the town of Tynda from the city of Blagoveshchensk when it disappeared from radar at around 1:00 pm local time (0400 GMT). A rescue helicopter later spotted the burning fuselage of the plane on a forested mountain slope about 15 kilometres (nine miles) south of Tynda's airport. Videos published by Russian investigators showed smoke rising from the crash site and what appeared to be fragments of the plane strewn across the forest floor. A search and rescue team arrived only hours after the crash at the remote, hard-to-reach site and found no evidence of survivors, according to the state news agency TASS. Investigators did not say what caused the crash. Weather conditions at the time of the incident were poor, Angara Airlines CEO Sergei Salamanov told Russia's REN TV channel. "The commander made the decision to carry out the flight," he was quoted as saying. Tynda, home to around 30,000 people, lies in an area of thick taiga forest about 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the Chinese border. At least one Chinese national was on the flight, state media in China reported. Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a message of condolence to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. "I would like to express my deep condolences to the victims and sincere sympathy to the families of the victims," Xi said, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. The plane dropped from radar while attempting a second approach to land at Tynda, regional prosecutors said. The forest terrain complicated search efforts, a rescuer told the TASS agency. "The main search operations are being conducted from the air," it said. Angara Airlines, a small regional carrier based in the Russian city of Irkutsk, did not immediately release a statement on the crash. Russia's aviation watchdog has not yet given a definitive number of people on board. The Amur region's governor, Vasily Orlov, said the plane was carrying 43 passengers and six crew members. Among the passengers were five children, he said. The TASS agency cited emergency services as saying the plane was carrying 40 passengers and six crew. Aviation authorities have opened an investigation. The plane appeared to have been manufactured almost 50 years ago, during the Soviet era, according to civil aviation database In 2021, the aircraft's airworthiness certificate was extended until 2036, data from the site showed. AFP was not able to immediately verify this information. The Antonov-24 is a popular, Soviet-designed turboprop plane that first entered into service in 1959. Russia has taken steps to switch from Soviet aircraft to modern jets in recent years, but ageing light aircraft are still widely used in far-flung regions, with accidents frequent.
DW
2 days ago
- DW
Passenger plane crashes in eastern Russia – DW – 07/24/2025
An Antonov An-24 plane carrying 49 passengers has crashed near Russia's Chinese border. The wreckage has been sighted, but there is so far no sign of survivors. A passenger plane flying from Blagoveshchensk to Tynda in eastern Russia crashed on Thursday, with no sign that any of the 49 people on board survived the disaster, Russian authorities have said. The wreckage of the Angara Airlines Antonov An-24, one of the oldest passenger planes still in operation, has been located about 15 km (9 miles) from Tynda, the Civil Defense Ministry said. Rescue work is reportedly being hampered by difficult terrain, and so far there are no signs that anyone survived the crash.
