Desk Report,
“My close friend died before my eyes”
‘The burning plane hit the building right in front of my eyes’ – Farhan Hasan, a class 10 student at Milestone School and College in Dhaka’s Uttara, told BBC Bangla while describing the incident.
“My close friend died before my eyes”
Farhan Hasan had an exam yesterday, Monday. After the exam ended at 1 pm, he left the classroom and was talking to his friends. At that moment, the Air Force fighter jet suddenly crashed in front of them.
Farhan Hasan said, ‘A close friend of mine was with me in the exam hall, he died right in front of my eyes.’
The fighter jet hit a building in the school when it crashed. The incident happened just before the school holidays. Rezaul Islam, a teacher at Milestone School and College, told BBC Bangla, ‘The plane hit the junior section building right at the time of the school holidays. Classes for nursery, one, two and three are held there. The building’s gate was completely destroyed and caught fire.
Some videos of the incident that spread on social media also show the crashed plane’s engine on fire on the ground floor of a building adjacent to the school’s garden. Later, 9 units of the fire service went to the scene and tried to put out the fire. Rescue efforts are ongoing.
At least 27 people have been killed in the incident, including the pilot of the plane and school students. It is known that guardians are also among the victims.
Farhan Hasan, an eyewitness to the incident and a student of the school, said that many guardians were standing inside the school gate. Many children were leaving school because it was holiday. Then the plane entered the school.
More than a hundred people were injured in the plane crash. Most of them were students.
Many of the injured, who suffered burns, have been admitted to the National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute adjacent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Doctors said that the condition of many of them is critical. Most of them are child students.
The interim government has declared a one-day state mourning on Tuesday over the incident. Legal Advisor Professor Asif Nazrul said that an investigation will be conducted into how the incident happened. What is known about the plane
The crashed plane is an FT-7 BGI model fighter jet of the Bangladesh Air Force, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
Former Air Force officer Retired Air Commodore Isfaq Elahi Chowdhury told BBC Bangla that the crashed plane is mainly used for training purposes. He also said that the F-7 model aircraft made in China have been used by the Bangladesh Air Force for almost three decades.
In a statement after the incident, the ISPR said that the plane took off from the Air Force base in Kurmitola, Dhaka at 1:06 pm yesterday as part of regular training.
The plane was piloted by Air Force Flight Lieutenant Tauqir Islam. It is said that it crashed within ten minutes of taking off.
Why did it crash
The government will investigate how the incident happened, said Legal Advisor Professor Asif Nazrul.
Asif Nazrul told reporters, “We are very saddened by this incident. The government has already declared a state of mourning on Tuesday (today). At the same time, we will investigate how the plane crashed.”
Meanwhile, in a statement released after the incident, the ISPR said that the plane encountered a mechanical fault shortly after takeoff. Officials said that details will be provided after the investigation. The ISPR said that to deal with the accident and avoid major damage, pilot Tauqir Islam tried his best to take the plane from a densely populated area to a sparsely populated area. But unfortunately, the plane crashed in an unexpected accident on a two-story building of Milestone School and College in Diyabari.
The ISPR mentioned in the statement that a “high-level” investigation committee has already been formed by the Air Force to find out the cause of the accident.
