DHAKA
At least 19 people were killed and 164 injured after a Bangladesh Air Force training jet crashed into a school and college campus in Dhaka on Monday, shortly after take-off. The jet, an F-7 BGI, experienced a technical failure, according to military spokesperson Lt Col Sami Ud Dowla Chowdhury.
The aircraft took off at 1:06 p.m. from the Kurmitola Air Force base on a routine training mission. "The pilot made a valiant effort to steer the aircraft away from populated areas, but it ultimately crashed into a two-storey building of Milestone School and College," Chowdhury said. The pilot was among the deceased.
The military has launched a formal investigation into the cause of the crash. The F-7 BGI is an advanced variant of China’s Chengdu J-7, itself a licensed version of the Soviet MiG-21. Bangladesh procured 16 of these jets in a 2011 deal, with deliveries completed by 2013.
The crash triggered a large fire, with thick black smoke billowing into the sky as firefighters battled the flames. Video footage showed the wreckage embedded in the side of the building, with extensive structural damage.
Bidhan Sarker, head of the burn unit at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, said a third-grade student died, while three others aged 12, 14, and 40 were hospitalized with injuries. Eyewitnesses described chaos and panic. “I was at the gate to pick up my children when I heard an explosion and saw smoke and fire behind me,” said Masud Tarik, a schoolteacher.