At least 27 people, including several school children, were killed on Monday when a Bangladesh Air Force fighter jet crashed into the Milestone School and College campus in Dhaka. The incident, which occurred in the Uttara area of the capital, has also left around 171 others injured, the majority of whom are students between the ages of eight and fourteen. According to medics quoted by international media outlets, the death toll was first reported at 20, but it later increased to 27 after many seriously injured victims passed away from their wounds.
The F-7 BJI fighter jet, manufactured in China, was the aircraft that crashed. The Bangladeshi military acknowledged in a statement that the plane's pilot perished in the collision as well. The precise cause of the crash will be ascertained after a thorough examination, although preliminary findings point to a mechanical failure.
Only a month has passed since the tragic Air India crash in Ahmedabad, India, which claimed 260 lives. In that incident, an Air India flight bound for Gatwick crashed into a medical college campus seconds after takeoff, drawing international attention to aviation safety across South Asia.
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Monday's crash in Dhaka is now considered the deadliest air accident in Bangladesh since 1984, when a passenger flight from Chattogram to Dhaka went down during a rainstorm, killing all 49 people on board. In light of the recent crash, Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus declared Tuesday a day of national mourning. In a public statement, Yunus expressed deep sorrow, calling the loss to the Air Force and the school community "irreparable" and extended his condolences to the victims' families, students, parents, teachers, and staff affected by the tragedy.
Medical teams responded swiftly to the scene, and more than 25 people remain in critical condition. Dr Mohammad Nasir Uddin, Director of the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, stated that many patients were being treated in the ICU and high-dependency units, noting that burn injuries often require repeated assessments and constant monitoring. He described the condition of the critically injured as highly unstable.
International reactions poured in soon after the news broke. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives and extended India’s support to Bangladesh in this time of grief. The US State Department also released a statement through its Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, expressing condolences to the families of the fatalities and those injured and stating that it was "deeply saddened" by the catastrophe.
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