A Bangladesh Air Force jet crashed into a college in the capital Dhaka on Monday, killing at least 31 people, mostly children, according to officials, in the country’s deadliest air incident in recent memory.
The crash at Milestone School and College campus, in the Diabari neighborhood of northern Dhaka, injured 171 others, the Bangladesh Armed Forces said Monday. Most of the injured are students who are being treated in hospitals in the capital, the military said.
Students were attending afternoon classes when the BAF F7 jet hit the two-story campus around 1:18 p.m. local time (3:18 a.m. EST) after a mechanical fault, according to state media BSS News, citing the country’s armed forces.
The plane’s pilot made “every effort to divert the aircraft away from densely populated areas toward a more sparsely inhabited location,” the military said. The pilot was among those killed, The Associated Press reported, citing regional officials.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash.
Of those killed, 25 were children and 78 people are receiving treatment at various hospitals in Dhaka, Dr Md Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to the chief adviser for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, told reporters on Tuesday.
Scores of people rushed toward the crash site, where emergency crews could be seen trying to extinguish the smoking wreckage of the jet.
The government announced a day of mourning and special prayers, BSS News said.
“I express my deep grief and sorrow over the tragic incident of casualties caused by the crash,” the country’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus wrote in a post on X.
“This is a moment of profound pain for the nation. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured and direct all concerned authorities, including hospitals, to address the situation with the utmost priority,” he added.
