A Bangladeshi Air Force training jet crashed into a crowded school compound in northern Dhaka on Monday, killing at least 27 people, 25 of them children and injuring more than 170 others in what is now one of the country’s deadliest peacetime aviation disasters.
The crash occurred just after 1:00 p.m. local time, when an F-7 fighter jet developed what officials called a “mechanical fault” shortly after takeoff for a routine training flight.
Within minutes, the jet plunged into Milestone School and College in the Diabari neighborhood, striking at a time when many students were exiting classrooms.
The pilot, who was also killed, had reportedly tried to steer the jet away from more densely populated areas, according to preliminary assessments from the Bangladesh Armed Forces. However, the aircraft crashed directly into the school’s main building, igniting a fire and causing mass casualties.
“Seventeen of the casualties were children,” the Health Ministry said, adding that 78 of the injured remain hospitalized across several facilities in the capital.
More than 100 victims suffered severe burns, with many still in critical condition, according to medical staff at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.
“Most of the injured are students,” the military confirmed in a Facebook statement, which also noted that the aircraft experienced a “mechanical fault” during its training mission.
Emergency responders, including fire brigades, army medics, and volunteers, rushed to the scene to pull survivors from burning debris.
Eyewitnesses described hearing a “loud explosion” followed by “screams from all sides” as panic spread across the school grounds.
Dr. Md Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to the chief adviser for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, confirmed the death toll at a press briefing Tuesday and described the situation in hospitals as “overwhelming and heartbreaking.”
The school, which enrolls children aged four to 18, has been closed indefinitely. Shocked parents gathered at hospitals and the crash site throughout the day, many still searching for their missing children.
Bangladesh’s Prime Minister issued a statement expressing deep sorrow and pledged a full investigation into the crash.
