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Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Bangladesh students demand accountability after deadly air force jet crash
Hundreds of protesters have rallied in Bangladesh to demand accountability after an air force fighter jet crashed into a Dhaka school, killing 31 people, including 25 students. The children, many aged under 12, were about to return home from class on Monday when the Bangladesh air force jet crashed into their school and burst into flames. The military said the plane had suffered mechanical failure. Students from the school and others from nearby colleges protested as two government officials visited the crash site on Tuesday, demanding an accurate death toll and shouting, 'Why did our brothers die? We demand answers!' Elsewhere in the capital, hundreds of protesting students, some of them waving sticks, broke through the main gate of the federal government secretariat, demanding the resignation of the education adviser, according to local TV footage. The protesting students called for those killed and injured to be named, compensation for families, the decommissioning of what they said were old and risky jets, and a change in air force training procedures. Police fired tear gas and used sound grenades to disperse the crowd, leaving about 80 students injured, Jamuna TV, a Bangladeshi station, reported. Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Talebur Rahman said he did not have information on the number of injured, the Reuters news agency reported. The students have several demands, said Al Jazeera's Tanvir Chowdhury, from the site of the crash at Milestone School and College. 'They're asking the government to accurately list the name of the people who died and also those who are injured; they want an exact figure – the number of people who are in the hospital. They also want compensation and a public apology,' Chowdhury said. 'They also want the air force to get away from old aircraft and to change their training procedures.' The military said in a statement that 31 people had died and 165 had been admitted to hospitals in the city. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said 68 remained in hospital, and the condition of 10 of them was critical. A statement from the press office of Muhammad Yunus, the country's interim administrator, said that the government, the military, school and hospital authorities were working together to publish a list of named victims. It also said the air force will be told not to operate training aircraft in populated areas. 'The nation is mourning' Rescue workers continued to scour the charred buildings for debris on Tuesday as distressed residents of the area looked on. 'The whole nation is mourning. This is something [that's] never happened in this country,' said Al Jazeera's Chowdhury. Some parents were inconsolable. Abul Hossain broke down as he spoke about his nine-year-old daughter, Nusrat Jahan Anika, killed in the crash. 'I took her to school yesterday morning like every day. I had no idea it would be the last time I would be seeing her,' Hossain told Reuters. She was buried on Monday night. Rubina Akter said her son Raiyan Toufiq had a miraculous escape after his shirt caught fire when he was on a staircase. 'He sprinted to the ground floor and jumped on the grass to douse it,' Akter told Reuters. 'He tore his shirt and vest inside, which saved him from severe burns.' Smriti, an 11th-grade student at the school, told The Associated Press news agency that her eardrums felt they were 'about to burst' when the plane crashed. 'I saw some children lying with their limbs spread out, some of their lifeless bodies scattered around. Can you save them? Tell me, will they ever be able to return to their parents' arms again?' she asked. The jet had taken off from a nearby airbase on a routine training mission, the military said. After experiencing mechanical failure, the pilot tried to divert the aircraft away from populated areas, but it crashed into the school campus. The pilot, flight lieutenant Mohammed Toukir Islam, was among those killed. It was his first solo flight as he was completing his training. The incident comes as neighbour India is still grappling with the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade after an Air India plane crashed into a medical college hostel in Ahmedabad last month, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 others on the ground.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Bangladesh students protest after air force jet crash kills 31
STORY: Students in Bangladesh protested on Tuesday (July 22) after an air force fighter jet crash killed at least 31 people, most of whom were children. People were leaving Dhaka school to go home when the jet plowed into the building on Monday. It burst into flames, trapping pupils in the fire and debris. Students from the school and nearby colleges demanded answers and compensation from the government. Bangladesh's air force chief Hasan Mahmood Khan said an inquiry has been launched. 'It was a very sad incident. We will try our best to find out the causes.' Rescue workers continued to scour the charred buildings for debris on Tuesday as people, distressed, looked on. Sagor Hossain said he's been searching 'like a maniac' for his niece Raisa Moni who's been missing since the crash. 'She is a third-grader. Since yesterday afternoon, we have visited all the hospitals and the school. But cannot find her whereabouts.' The military said the jet had taken off from a nearby air base on a routine training mission. After experiencing mechanical failure, the pilot, who was among those killed, tried to divert the aircraft away from populated areas, but it crashed into the campus. The government announced a day of mourning, with flags at half-mast and special prayers at all places of worship.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- The Guardian
Students chant for justice after Bangladesh plane crash
Hundreds of students have demanded justice after an air force training jet crashed into a school in Dhaka, killing at least 31 people, most of whom were children. At a protest near the crash site on Tuesday, the students called for accountability, justice for victims and their families, and the halt of future training flights
CTV News
2 days ago
- CTV News
Bangladesh mourns 31 dead in jet crash as students protest to demand accountability
Students shout slogans during a protest near the site of the Monday crash of a Bangladesh air force training jet into a school, demanding accountability, compensation for victims' families and the halt of training flights, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/ Mehedi Hasan) DHAKA, Bangladesh — Hundreds of students protested near the site of the crash of a Bangladesh air force training jet into a school in the nation's capital, demanding accountability, compensation for victims' families and the halt of training flights. The death toll from the crash rose to 31 on Tuesday, including at least 25 students, a teacher who died from burn injuries she sustained while helping others get out of the burning building, and the pilot of the training aircraft. Firefighters further secured the site in Dhaka's densely populated Uttara neighborhood while the military launched an investigation. The country's civil aviation authority was not involved in the investigation directly. Bangladesh declared Tuesday a day of national mourning, with the flags flying at half-staff across the country. Monday's crash at the Milestone School and College caused a fire that gutted the two-story school building. Officials said 171 people, mostly students and many with burns, were rescued and carried away in helicopters, ambulances, motorized rickshaws and in the arms of firefighters and parents. The protesting students demanded 'accurate' publication of identities of the dead and injured, compensation for their families, and an immediate halt to the use of 'outdated and unsafe' training aircraft by the Bangladesh air force. They chanted slogans and accused security officials of beating them and manhandling teachers on Monday. The students became furious after two senior government advisers arrived at the scene, forcing them to take cover. Elsewhere in Dhaka, hundreds of other students marched toward the country's administrative headquarters, demanding the resignation of the education adviser who, they said, delayed announcing that public exams were being canceled during Tuesday's mourning. Many say they're haunted by the tragedy 'Yesterday, when the plane was approaching, the sound was so loud you can't even imagine — it felt like eardrums were about to burst. Within five seconds, the plane crashed right in front of me here,' Smriti, a student who only gave one name, said outside her school. 'Suddenly, I saw flames rising fiercely upward from the building,' the 11th grader said. 'When I got here, I saw some children lying with their limbs spread out, some of their lifeless bodies scattered around. Can you save them? Tell me, will they ever be able to return to their parents' arms again,' she asked. On Tuesday, 78 people, mostly students, remained hospitalized, said Sayeedur Rahman, a special assistant to Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus. Twenty deaths were reported initially, and seven died of their injuries overnight, authorities said. Another four deaths were reported later Monday, the military said. Maherin Chowdhury, a teacher who rescued more than 20 students from the burning school, died from severe burn injuries, her colleague Tanzina Tanu said. Doctors said late Monday that the condition of about two dozen injured remained critical. A blood donation camp has been opened at a specialized burn hospital where most of the injured were being treated. Twenty bodies have been handed over to their families, with some of them possibly needing DNA matching after they were charred beyond recognition. Many relatives waited overnight at a specialized burn hospital for the bodies of their loved ones. The plane reported a malfunction The Chinese-made F-7 BGI training aircraft experienced a 'technical malfunction' moments after takeoff from the A.K. Khandaker air force base at 1:06 p.m. Monday, according to a statement from the military. The pilot, Flight Lt. Mohammed Toukir Islam, made 'every effort to divert the aircraft away from densely populated areas toward a more sparsely inhabited location,' the military said, adding that it would investigate the cause of the crash. The Milestone school, about an 11-kilometer (7-mile) drive from the air force base, is in a densely populated area near a metro station and numerous shops and homes. It was the pilot's first solo flight as he was completing his training course. It remained unclear if he managed to eject before the jet hit the building. The first funeral prayers were held for the pilot in Dhaka on Tuesday morning and second prayers will be held in southwestern Rajshahi district where his parents live. It is the deadliest plane crash in the Bangladeshi capital in recent memory. In 2008, another F-7 training jet crashed outside Dhaka, killing its pilot, who had ejected after he discovered a technical problem. ——— Associated Press video journalist Al-emrun Garjon contributed to the report. Julhas Alam, The Associated Press
Wall Street Journal
2 days ago
- General
- Wall Street Journal
At Least 20 Dead as Bangladesh Jet Crashes into School
At Least 20 Dead as Bangladesh Jet Crashes into School Bangladesh declares a day of mourning after an air force training jet crashes into a school on Monday, killing at least 20 people. Photo: Jubair Bin Iqbal/AFP via Getty Images
