A Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crashed into a school and college campus in a densely populated area of Dhaka on Monday, killing at least 19 people and injuring more than 50 others, officials said.
The jet, identified as an F-7 BGI, went down in Uttara, a northern neighborhood of the capital, shortly after taking off at 1:06 p.m. local time, according to a statement from the military’s Inter-Services Public Relations department.
Flames and thick black smoke engulfed the crash site, video footage showed, as firefighters battled the blaze and rescue workers pulled victims from the debris. The aircraft appeared to have struck the side of a building, tearing through iron grills and leaving a large hole in the structure, images from Reuters TV revealed.
Among the victims were several children. At Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, Bidhan Sarker, head of the burn unit, said that a third-grade student was pronounced dead on arrival, while three others — ages 12, 14, and 40 — were admitted with severe burns.
Visuals from the scene captured chaos and anguish: parents crying out in search of their children, students in shock, and teachers attempting to assist the injured.
“When I was picking up my kids and went to the gate, I heard an explosion,” said Masud Tarik, a teacher at the school. “When I looked back, I saw only fire and smoke.”
The cause of the crash is not yet known. Bangladesh’s interim prime minister, Muhammad Yunus, said the government would take “necessary measures” to investigate the accident and pledged full support for the victims and their families.
“The loss suffered by the Air Force, the students, parents, teachers and others in this accident is irreparable,” Mr. Yunus said in a statement.
Monday’s disaster comes just weeks after a deadly crash in Ahmedabad, India, where an Air India flight struck a medical college hostel, killing 241 passengers and 19 people on the ground — the deadliest aviation accident globally in more than a decade.
