by Staff Correspondent, Dhaka;-
At least 20 people, mostly children, have been killed when an air force training jet crashed on a school building in Dhaka on Monday, sending a wave of shock among millions across the nation and beyond.
The Chinese-made F-7BGI fighter jet crashed into a two-storey building of the Milestone School and College in the Dhaka’s northern neighbourhood of Uttara in the afternoon. City hospitals were struggling to treat more than 170 people who suffered severe burns in explosion of the crash-triggered explosion of the fighter jet.
The government announced a day of state of mourning on Tuesday. Instruction was also given to hoist national flag at half-mast to show respect to the crash victims. Muhammad Yunus, the head of the interim administration, described it as a day of “profound grief”.
The young Squadron Leader Towkir Islam could have sensed the mechanical malfunction soon after he took off in his first day of solo piloting from Kurmutola Air Vice Marshall A K Khondoker base. He tried to veer the F-7BGI jet, the final and most advanced varian in China’s Chengdu J-7/F-7 aircraft family, to a thinly populated area for a crash landing, according to military public relations department. Failed to keep altitude, the aircraft slammed onto one of the school buildings. Bangladesh signed a contract with China for 16 aircraft (F-7 BGI) in 2011 and deliveries were made by 2013.
Footage shows a huge fire and thick smoke, after the aircraft slammed into a two-storey building.
Hundreds of relatives and guardians rushed to the site as soon as they learnt about the accident. Those who failed to find their children then crowded the nearby hospitals.
Images from the scene show scores of emergency service workers drawn from firefighting unit, army and police sorting through charred rubble to try and find survivors. And, the scene was being watched by huge crowds of onlookers who climbed on top of surrounding buildings to see amid the cry of thousands of parents who were in search of their love ones missing in the mayhem.
Rescuers suspended operations until Tuesday morning to have a final check at the accident site.
The Inter Service Public Relations department in a statement said the pilot of the training aircraft noticed a technical malfunction soon after it took off from Dhaka’s airbase at 1:06 pm (0706 GMT) and tried to pilot it to a thinly populated area. But it then crashed into the school building, killing 20 people, including the pilot, and injuring 171 others, it said.
Earlier, Sayedur Rahman, an assistant to the head of the interim government, Muhammad Yunus, said that many of the injured were taken to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery. He said more than 100 people were undergoing treatment at different hospitals. Condition of many of them stated to be critical.
The government announced a day of national mourning on Tuesday to pay respect to those who died. Yunus posted a message of condolence on Facebook expressing his shock over the crash.
“This is a moment of profound grief for the nation,” Yunus said. He wished a speedy recovery for those injured. The government will take the necessary measures to investigate the cause of the accident, he said.
Khaleda Khatun, an official on duty at the Fire Service and Civil Defence control room, said that nine fire engines had took hours to extinguish the flame.
A witness named Pintu, who was at the scene to pick up his child from school, described that he saw the aircraft descend rapidly before crashing with a loud bang.
“Soon after the bang, I saw a fireball erupt. I could see nothing but the flames at that moment, and I ran for shelter,” Pintu told private broadcaster Jamuna TV. He later found his son unharmed at the school compound.
Muhammad Zahed Kamal, head of Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence department, said the ground floor was being used for classes for the third and fourth graders while the first floor had second and fifth graders, he said.
Footage show the wreckage lied in front of the school building with part of the aircraft shoved into the building’s ground floor.
Leaders from neighbouring India and Pakistan as well as some other countries in separate messages mourned the deaths and expressed solidarity with Bangladesh after the tragic accident.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a message said he was shocked and saddened by the loss of lives, many of them young students.
“Our hearts go out to the bereaved families,” said Modi adding that India stands in solidarity with Bangladesh and is ready to extend all possible support and assistance.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar offered condolences to the families of the victims. The EU Delegation in Bangladesh in a statement said: “Our hearts are with the victims, their families, and all those affected.”
“We stand in solidarity with Bangladesh during this challenging time, commending the efforts of the authorities, hospitals, and others in handling the situation with the utmost care,” Japanese embassy in Dhaka said in a message.
