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At least 20 people, including schoolchildren and a military pilot, were killed on Monday, 21 July, after a fighter jet crashed into a school building in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka
The crash — the country's deadliest aviation disaster in decades — occurred shortly after 1pm local time, when a Chinese-made F-7 BJI fighter jet slammed into Milestone School and College, a well-known private institution catering to students from kindergarten to senior secondary level, reported AFP.
More than 170 people were injured in the crash, most of them between the ages of 8 and 14.
"There were two fighter planes… Suddenly, one of them crashed here, in the junior playground," 18-year-old student Shafiur Rahman Shafi told AFP.
"It created a boom, and it felt like a quake. Then it caught fire."
Photos from the scene, captured by an AFP photographer, showed rescue workers carrying injured children on stretchers while firefighters and soldiers cleared twisted wreckage from the school grounds.
The Bangladesh military said the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Towkir Islam, was on a routine training mission when the aircraft "reportedly encountered a mechanical failure"
Towkir attempted to steer the plane away from populated areas but ultimately crashed into the two-storey school building. The pilot did not survive.
According to AFP, it was Towkir's first solo flight.
His uncle, Motakabbir, said the young officer's mother had been both nervous and proud, waiting for her son's first solo mission to be completed.
Grief gripped the city as families rushed to hospitals searching for their children
Many of the victims were taken to the National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute in Dhaka, where AFP reports that at least seven of the deceased remained unidentified.
"We frantically searched for my cousin in different hospitals," Tofazzal Hossain, 30, told AFP through tears.
"He was an eighth grader at the school. Finally, we found his body."
The interim government led by Muhammad Yunus has declared a national day of mourning
In a statement posted on X, Yunus expressed his "deep grief and sorrow" over the tragedy.
"The loss suffered by the Air Force, the students, parents, teachers, and staff of Milestone School and College is irreparable," he said.
"This is a moment of profound pain for the nation."
Yunus, who holds the title of the Chief Adviser of the interim government of Bangladesh, hoped for the "speedy recovery of the injured".
শিক্ষা প্রতিষ্ঠানে বিমান বিধ্বস্তের ঘটনায় প্রধান উপদেষ্টার শোক বার্তা
— Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh (@ChiefAdviserGoB) July 21, 2025
রাজধানীর দিয়াবাড়ি এলাকায় মাইলস্টোন স্কুল অ্যান্ড কলেজ ক্যাম্পাসে আজ বাংলাদেশ বিমান বাহিনীর এফ-৭ বিজেআই প্রশিক্ষণ বিমান বিধ্বস্তের মর্মান্তিক দুর্ঘটনায় হতাহতের ঘটনায় আমি গভীর শোক ও দুঃখ প্রকাশ করছি।
এই…
The last major aviation disaster in Bangladesh occurred in 1984, when a passenger plane flying from Chattogram to Dhaka crashed, killing all 49 on board.
The military has launched a formal investigation into Monday's crash, and the exact cause remains under review.
The tragedy has also drawn international condolences
Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, said he was "deeply shocked and saddened at the loss of lives" and that "India stands in solidarity with Bangladesh and is ready to extend all possible support and assistance".
Deeply shocked and saddened at the loss of lives, many of them young students, in a tragic air crash in Dhaka. Our hearts go out to the bereaved families. We pray for the swift recovery of those injured. India stands in solidarity with Bangladesh and is ready to extend all…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 21, 2025
Footage of the crash can be found below:
A training aircraft has crashed in Uttara, #Dhaka. The incident occurred this afternoon (Monday) in the Milestone College area of Uttara.
— Basherkella – বাঁশেরকেল্লা (@basherkella) July 21, 2025
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), a Bangladesh Air Force F-7 BGI training aircraft crashed in Uttara. The aircraft… pic.twitter.com/DeivlfQI7o
