Bangladesh air force jet crashes into school campus, killing at least 19

At least 19 people were killed and 164 injured as a Bangladesh air force training jet crashed into a college and school campus in the capital Dhaka on Monday after experiencing a technical problem shortly after takeoff, a military spokesperson said.

The F-7 BGI jet took off at 1:06 p.m. from the Bangladesh Air Force base in Kurmitola, Dhaka, as part of a routine training mission, but encountered a mechanical failure, said the spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Sami Ud Dowla Chowdhury.

“The pilot … made a valiant attempt to divert the aircraft away from densely populated areas. Despite his best efforts, the aircraft … crashed into a two-story building belonging to Milestone School and College,” he said.

The pilot was among those killed in the incident, the military said, adding that a committee had been formed to investigate its cause.

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The F-7 BGI is the final and most advanced variant in China’s Chengdu J-7/F-7 aircraft family, according to Jane’s Information Group. Bangladesh signed a contract for 16 aircraft in 2011 and deliveries were completed by 2013.

The Chengdu F-7 is the license-built version of the Soviet MiG-21.

Videos of the aftermath of the crash showed a big fire near a lawn emitting a thick plume of smoke into the sky, as crowds watched from a distance.

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Firefighters sprayed water on the mangled remains of the plane, which appeared to have rammed into the side of a building, damaging iron grills and creating a gaping hole in the structure, footage filmed by Reuters showed.

“A third-grade student was brought in dead, and three others, aged 12, 14 and 40, were admitted to the hospital,” said Bidhan Sarker, head of the burn unit at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, where some victims were taken.

Images from the scene also showed people screaming and crying as others tried to comfort them.

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“When I was picking (up) my kids and went to the gate, I realized something came from behind … I heard an explosion. When I looked back, I only saw fire and smoke,” said Masud Tarik, a teacher at the school.

The incident comes a little over a month after an Air India plane crashed on top of a medical college hostel in neighboring India’s Ahmedabad city, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground, marking the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade.

Reuters contributed to this report.