Aircraft Crash in Uttara Kills 19, Injures 60
At least 19 people were killed and 60 injured after a Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) aircraft crashed into a building of Milestone School and College in the capital’s Uttara area, Fire Service and Civil Defence sources confirmed. “Nineteen people have so far been killed and 60 others injured in the jet crash,” said Md Shajahan Sikder, media officer and assistant director of the FSCD. He, however, said they have yet to confirm the identities of the deceased. A BAF F-7 jet crashed into a building of Milestone College around 1:18pm, he said. The aircraft took off at 1:06pm, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR). However, over 100 people were also injured in the crash, with at least 83 receiving treatment in different city hospitals, according to a message from the Chief Adviser’s press wing.
FSCD, army, police and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel have been conducting extensive rescue operation. Three platoons BGB have been deployed at the place of occurrence to assist the law enforcement and rescue operations, according to a BGB press release. An emergency hotline number 01949-043697 has been launched at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery following the jet crash. One coach of the metro trains departing from Uttara has been kept reserved to transport the injured from the Milestone College. Over 30 people have so far been admitted to National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, said its director Md Nasiruddin. The government has declared a one-day state mourning following the crash of Air Force aircraft at Milestone College in Dhaka’s Uttara.
The mourning day will be observed tomorrow (Tuesday). Following this, the national flag will be flown at half-mast at all government, semi-government, autonomous institutions, and educational establishments across the country. Additionally, the flag will be lowered at all government and private buildings, as well as at Bangladeshi missions abroad. Special prayers will be held in all religious places of worship throughout the country for the injured and deceased. Chief Adviser to the interim government Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus has expressed deep shock and sorrow over the casualties in a tragic Bangladesh Air Force F-7 BGI training aircraft crash on the Milestone School and College campus at Diabari in the capital today. “I express deep shock and sorrow over the casualties in the aircraft crash,” he said in a statement issued by the Chief Adviser's Press Wing this afternoon.
