Dhaka – A Bangladeshi training fighter jet crashed into a school in the capital Dhaka on Monday, killing at least 19 people and injuring dozens more in the country’s deadliest aviation accident in decades.
#BREAKING: Made-in-China Bangladesh Air Force F-7 fighter jet crashes into a college campus in Dhaka.
The situation is not Good. Crash happened when classes were underway.
At least 19 people killed !!
Over 70 injured and admitted to six hospitals across Dhaka.🫨😶 pic.twitter.com/voSr4fWGQP
— द मनमौजी (@themanmauji1000) July 21, 2025
An AFP photographer at the scene saw fire and rescue officials taking away the injured students on stretchers, while military personnel helped clear the wreckage.
A military statement said 19 people were killed, including the pilot, and 20 others were critically wounded.
At least 51 people, mostly students, were undergoing treatment at Dhaka’s National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute, its director Mohammad Nasir Uddin told AFP.
The Chinese-made F-7 BJI aircraft crashed moments after students were let out of class at 1:00 pm (0700 GMT) at the Milestone School and College.
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, who is enrolled at the school.
“We were on the playground for the seniors. There were two fighter planes… Suddenly one of the two 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.”
The interim government of Muhammad Yunus announced a day of national mourning on Tuesday.
🚨 BREAKING
At least 19 people have now died and over 100 injured when a Bangladesh Air Force FT-7BGI, a Chinese-built Chengdu J-7 training jet, crashed near Milestone College’s Uttara campus in Dhaka during a routine mission. https://t.co/Mkk26oBve5 pic.twitter.com/KCBnls7kNE
— Intel Tower🗽 (@inteltower) July 21, 2025
‘We frantically searched’
Grieving parents and relatives of the victims thronged the National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute.
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 at the school. Finally, we found his body.”
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.”
🚨🇧🇩Watch: Panic and chaos as Bangladesh Air Force training jet crashed into the Milestone School and College in Dhaka’s Uttara area on Monday, killing 19 people, mostly students and wounded 100+, medics say. pic.twitter.com/IwOve8kpiz
— GAROWE ONLINE (@GaroweOnline) July 21, 2025
At least 19 have been killed when a Bangladeshi Air Force jet crashed onto a college and school building in Dhaka… pic.twitter.com/5i6Us2pQWk
— Ujala / উজালা (@banglamarigold) July 21, 2025
The crash was the worst 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.
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Source: AFP
