Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crashed into a school and college campus in the capital, Dhaka, on Monday, killing 20 people, including the pilot.
Gatekeepers News reports that the military said in a statement that the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Mohammed Toukir Islam, made “every effort to divert the aircraft away from densely populated areas towards a more sparsely inhabited location.”
The F-7 BGI aircraft crashed into the campus of Milestone School and College in Dhaka’s Uttara neighborhood at around 1 pm, when students were taking tests or attending regular classes. According to the military, 171 people were injured in the incident, with most of the injured aged between 8 and 14.
The interim government of Muhammad Yunus announced a day of national mourning on Tuesday and expressed “deep grief and sorrow” over the incident. Yunus also announced that an emergency hotline has been activated at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.
Witnesses described the scene as chaotic, with people screaming and crying as others tried to comfort them. “When I was picking [up] my kids and went to the gate, I realised something came from behind … I heard an explosion. When I looked back, I only saw fire and smoke,” Masud Tarik, a teacher at the school, told Reuters.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, and the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society has called for donations for those injured.
