Latest news with #school tragedy
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
Bangladesh mourns as toll from jet crash at school hits 27
Most of the victims were pupils who had just been let out of class when the Chinese-made F-7 BJI aircraft slammed into the Milestone School and College on Monday. "So far, 27 people have died. Among them, 25 are children and one is a pilot," said Sayedur Rahman from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, updating an earlier death toll of 20. "Seventy-eight people are being treated in different hospitals," added Rahman, special assistant to the ministry's chief adviser. More than 170 people were injured in the crash, said the military which is investigating the cause. The usually bustling school was eerily quiet on Tuesday morning, with classes cancelled. "Along with the children, the school has lost its life," said teacher Shahadat Hossain, whose son narrowly escaped the crash. "There are two swings in front of the affected building. During lunch breaks and after school, children play there. Even yesterday, around the time the plane crashed, students were on those swings," the 45-year-old told AFP. Around 7,000 pupils are enrolled at the school, including Abul Bashar's sixth-grade son whose best friend was killed. "He came out just two or three minutes before the accident occurred," said Bashar. "He couldn't sleep through the night and forced me to bring him to school this morning," the father added, his son standing in silence. Children's trauma School authorities have collected bags, shoes, and identity cards of children from the site. Pahn Chakma, a senior police officer, said that armed forces personnel are still sweeping the area. "They will hand over the place to the police later, and we will then collect evidence, including any human remains or belongings of students and others," Chakma said. Air Force personnel on duty said the remnants of the fighter jet were removed on Monday night, but they are still scouring the site for evidence. "I don't know how long it will take to return to normalcy, to relieve the children from this trauma," teacher Hossain said. On Monday night, school authorities held prayers at the campus. Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus expressed "deep grief and sorrow" over the incident and declared a day of national mourning. "The loss suffered by the Air Force, the students, parents, teachers, and staff of Milestone School and College, as well as others affected by this accident, is irreparable," he said. "This is a moment of profound pain for the nation." The military said the pilot, flight lieutenant Towkir Islam, was on a routine training mission when the jet "reportedly encountered a mechanical failure". He tried to divert the aircraft away from densely populated areas but, "despite his best efforts", crashed into the two-storey school building, the military said Monday. © 2025 AFP
News.com.au
a day ago
- News.com.au
At least 20 dead as military plane crashes into school in Bangladesh
At least 20 people, mostly students, have died and over 170 have been injured after a military training aircraft crashed into a school campus in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka. The Air Force plane was taking part in a routine training mission when it experienced a mechanical issue and hit the Milestone School and College campus in the Uttara neighbourhood in the city's north on Monday afternoon. Bangladesh Air Force's F-7 BGI training aircraft took off at 1.06pm local time (5.06pm AEST) from the military base in Kurmitola, and crashed shortly afterwards. A military statement said 20 people were killed, including the pilot, and 171 others were injured. Many of the victims were young students who had just been let out of class. 'The pilot … made a valiant attempt to divert the aircraft away from densely populated areas. Despite his best efforts, the aircraft … crashed into a two-storey building belonging to Milestone school and college,' military spokesperson Lt Col Sami Ud Dowla Chowdhury said. At least 83 people are undergoing treatment in several hospitals, many of them with burns, the office of Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus said. The well-known private school offers education to children from kindergarten through to senior secondary. Most of the injured were aged between eight and 14. 'Created a boom' An intense fire and thick smoke can be seen engulfing part of the building in video footage taken in the aftermath of the crash. An AFP photographer at the scene saw fire and rescue officials taking away the injured students on stretchers. A witness said he heard a huge blast that felt like an earthquake. 'We have two playgrounds, one for the senior students and one for the juniors,' said Shafiur Rahman Shafi, 18, a student of the school. 'We were on the playground for the seniors. Suddenly one of the two fighter planes crashed here (in the junior playground),' he told AFP. 'It created a boom, and it felt like a quake. Then it caught fire, and the army reached the spot later.' Tofazzal Hossain, 30, broke down in tears on learning that his young cousin had been killed. 'We frantically searched for my cousin in different hospitals,' Hossain told AFP. 'He was an eighth grader. Finally, we found his body.' 'Profound pain for the nation' The interim government announced a day of national mourning on Tuesday. Grieving parents and relatives of the victims thronged the National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute in the capital, local media reported. Many were trying to identify their children by their uniform and other belongings. Yunus expressed 'deep grief and sorrow' over the incident in a post on X. 'The loss suffered by the Air Force, the students, parents, teachers, and staff of Milestone School and College, as well as others affected by this accident, is irreparable,' he said. 'This is a moment of profound pain for the nation.' Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was 'deeply shocked and saddened at the loss of lives' in Dhaka. Relations between the neighbours have been strained since protesters in Bangladesh last year ousted leader Sheikh Hasina, an old ally of New Delhi. 'India stands in solidarity with Bangladesh and is ready to extend all possible support and assistance,' Mr Modi wrote on X. The crash was the deadliest aviation accident in the country in several decades. The deadliest ever disaster happened in 1984 when a plane flying from Chattogram to Dhaka crashed, killing all 49 on board. Last month, a commercial aircraft crashed in neighbouring India, killing 260 people.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
At least 20 dead and more than 170 rescued after Air Force training plane smashed into school in Bangladesh
At least 20 people, mostly students, have been killed and more than 170 rescued after an Air Force training plane smashed into a school in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Airforce training aircraft smashed into a campus in Dhaka, the capital, shortly after takeoff on Monday afternoon where it burst into flames and claimed the life of the pilot. Another 171 students were rescued with injuries from a smoldering two-story building, officials said, including many with burns who were whisked away in helicopters, motorised rickshaws and the arms of firefighters and parents. The Chinese-made F-7 BGI training aircraft experienced a 'technical malfunction' moments after takeoff at 1:06pm local time, and the pilot attempted to divert the plane to a less populated area before crashing into the campus of Milestone School and College, according to a statement from the military. Students said the school's buildings trembled violently, followed by a big explosion that sent them running for safety. A desperate scene soon unfolded at the crash site, as panicked relatives searched for loved ones. Screams filled the air at a nearby hospital. Television footage showed fire and smoke billowing from the site of the crash as bystander are seeing trying put out the flames. Other clips circulating on social media show crowds of students fleeing from the scene in a panic. The Milestone school is in Dhaka's Uttara neighborhood, which is roughly seven miles drive from the A.K. Khandaker air force base. The school is in a densely populated area near a metro station and numerous shops and homes. 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 accident. The government announced a national day of mourning on Tuesday, with flags to fly at half-staff across the country. At the crash site Monday afternoon, a father sprinted with his daughter cradled in his arms. A mother cried out, having found her younger child, but desperately searched for her older one. Another father described his feeling of helplessness while waiting to learn the fate of his daughter. 'The plane crashed on the building where my daughter was. My wife called me, but I was praying so I could not pick up,' Jewel, who goes by one name, said at the scene. 'When I came here I saw there was a huge fire. There was a dead body of a child.' Luckily, his daughter was safe, he said, but he saw many other children suffering from burns. Students also scrambled to see what had happened. 'We fought with the crowd and the soldiers to get close to the crash site in our school,' said Estiak Elahi Khan, who is in the 11th grade. 'What I saw I can't describe that... that's terrible.' Doctors at Uttara Adhunik Hospital said more than 60 students, many between the ages of 12 and 16, were transferred to a special hospital for burn victims. 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 A truck arrives after an air force training aircraft crashed into Milestone College campus, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 21 July 2025 By Monday evening, rescuers continued to scour the debris, searching for bodies. A crane was being used to remove debris. Bangladesh's interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, also pledged an investigation, and he expressed his deep sorrow over the 'heartbreaking accident.' He called it 'a moment of deep national grief.' Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed shock and sadness. 'Our hearts go out to the bereaved families,' Modi said in a post on X. 'India stands in solidarity with Bangladesh and is ready to extend all possible support and assistance.' Rafiqa Taha, a student who was not present at the time of the crash, said by phone that the school, with some 2,000 students, offers classes from elementary grades through high school. 'I was terrified watching videos on TV,' the 16-year-old said. 'My God! It's my school.' 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. The incident comes a little over a month after an Air India plane crashed on top of a medical college hostel in neighbouring India's Ahmedabad city, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground, marking the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade. A preliminary report into the crash found that fuel switches for the engines of the doomed Boeing 787 Dreamliner began to lose thrust and sink down moments after setting of to London from the Indian city on June 12. In the flight's final moments, one pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel. 'The other pilot responded that he did not do so,' the report by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said. It did not identify which remarks were made by the flight's captain and which by the first officer, nor which pilot immediately transmitted the distress call: 'Thrust not achieved... falling... Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!' Seconds later the jet began losing height and exploded into a fireball after smashing into a hostel on the ground in Gujarat, claiming the lives of all but one passenger on board and 19 people on the ground. Investigators' early assessments indicate no apparent fault with the Boeing or its engines, suggesting that Boeing and engine maker GE had no apparent responsibility for the accident. But the report does not say how the switch - which is used to start or shut down the engines and are typically left on during flight - could have flipped to the cutoff position. 'Did they move on their own or did they move because of the pilots?' he asked. 'And if they were moved because of a pilot, why?' The report said the jet was carrying 54,200kg of fuel, which was within the 'allowable limits'. 'The aircraft achieved the maximum recorded airspeed of 180 Knots IAS at about 08:08:42 UTC and immediately thereafter, the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec,' the report said. 'The Engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off. A helicopter hovers over security personnel making way for an ambulance carrying an injured victim after an Air Force training jet crashed into a school in Dhaka on July 21, 2025 Referring to data recovered from the plane's two Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorders (EAFR), it continues: 'As per the EAFR, the Engine 1 fuel cutoff switch transitioned from CUTOFF to RUN at about 08:08:52 UTC. The APU Inlet Door began opening at about 08:08:54 UTC, consistent with the APU Auto Start logic. Thereafter at 08:08:56 UTC the Engine 2 fuel cutoff switch also transitions from CUTOFF to RUN. 'When fuel control switches are moved from CUTOFF to RUN while the aircraft is inflight, each engine's full authority dual engine control (FADEC) automatically manages a relight and thrust recovery sequence of ignition and fuel introduction.
