“I saw the plane hit the building right in front of my eyes.”
At least 19 people have died and 164 were injured after a Bangladeshi air force training jet crashed into a school campus in Dhaka.
Footage from Milestone School and College in Uttara, a northern suburb of the capital, shows a huge fire and clouds of thick smoke after the aircraft smashed into a two-storey school building.
The F-7 fighter jet, used by the Bangladesh Air Force for training exercises, experienced a mechanical fault shortly after taking off at 1 pm local time, the armed forces said in a Facebook statement.
The pilot was among those killed.
He had attempted to steer the jet away from a densely populated area but was unable to avoid impact, officials confirmed.
A teacher at the college, Rezaul Islam, said he saw the aircraft “directly” strike the building.
Another teacher, Masud Tarik, said: “When I looked back, I only saw fire and smoke… There were many guardians and kids here.”
A student described the horror of witnessing the crash unfold:
“I saw the plane hit the building right in front of my eyes.”
Emergency services raced to the scene, pulling charred debris from the wreckage in a desperate search for survivors.
Images from the site show dozens of first responders amid mangled concrete, with onlookers crowding rooftops to watch the chaos unfold below.
More than 50 people, including both children and adults, suffered burns and were rushed to hospital, according to a doctor at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.
The school caters to students aged between four and 18. At the time of the crash, many were attending classes, while parents were on-site to collect children.
Authorities have launched an official investigation into the crash, forming a committee to determine what went wrong.
Bangladesh’s interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, called the tragedy a moment of “deep sorrow” for the country.
He said on X:
“Necessary measures would be taken to investigate the cause of the incident and ensure all kinds of assistance.”
“I wish the injured a speedy recovery and instruct all authorities, including the hospitals concerned, to deal with the situation with utmost importance.”
A day of national mourning has been declared for July 22. The Bangladeshi flag will fly at half-mast across the country in memory of the victims.
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