The horrific plane crash at Milestone School and Collegeโs permanent campus in Uttara on Monday left the pilot and dozens of students, teachers, and staff dead and around 200 others severely injured.
Flight Lieutenant Mohammad Towkir Islam was flying the FT-7 BGI fighter aircraft during his final training mission. So, he had no assistance in the cockpit.
The aircraft took off from BAF Base AK Khandaker in Kurmitola at 1:06pm. It crashed into a two-storey building of the school, known as Project-2, at 1:18pm. Both the building and the plane were on fire immediately.
Students of classes VI-VIII were attending coaching sessions after the regular schedule that ended at 1pm.
Videos on social media show fire and smoke on the premises, and some of the injured students walking out of the campus themselves to seek help. Their uniforms were burned, with some parts still stuck on their skin.
Survivors and rescuers say there were around 600 students at the school at the time of the crash.
Sheikh Hasina mourns casualties as training aircraft crashes into Milestone School
The injured were taken to different hospitals, including Uttara Adhunik Hospital, Combined Military Hospital, and the Sheikh Hasina Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute.
Many students of the morning section and their parents were on the field, leaving the premises when the plane crashed.
Local people and members of the Bangladesh Army and the Fire Service rushed to the school to rescue the injured.
The army personnel later barred onlookers from entering the premises, and when they spoke to the media.
Inside the campus, the army asked residential students to leave the dormitory. At that time, some students alleged that the military was trying to hide dead bodies.
Awami League President and five-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, former ICT Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the governments of Pakistan, China and Russia expressed profound shock at the tragic deaths.
Official death toll
Fire Service officials said around 4:45pm that 19 were killed and 50 sustained injuries. Nine firefighting units took part in the rescue operation.
Around 5pm, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) reported 18 deaths and 164 injuries. Soon after, the army confirmed the death of the pilot. They said the plane crashed due to a technical malfunction, the specifics of which will be confirmed upon investigation.
The remains of the plane were removed from the school campus on a pickup truck.
Around midnight, hospital sources said four more succumbed to injuries at the burn institute, including student coordinator Meherin Chowdhury, while undergoing treatment. The three other students are AB Shamim, 14, Tanvir, 14, and Afnan, 14.
Meherin, 46, saved many lives as she helped them come out of the building, but she herself received 100% burns.
Burn institute sources said 51 injured people, mostly students, were admitted there, and 15 of them had 100% burns.
Doctors say the death toll is likely to go up because patients with over 40% burns and those having their airways affected do not usually survive.
According to ISPR, Flight Lieutenant Towkir, of the 35 squadron, 76 BAFA course, died while undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Combined Military Hospital (CMH).
Towkir completed his first 100 hours of flight training during his cadet years in PT-6 aircraft. He later served with the 15th Squadron, where he logged approximately 60 hours of flight time, before joining the 35th Squadron.
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