A Bangladesh Air Force training jet crashed into the Milestone School and College campus in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Monday afternoon. The incident resulted in at least 31 fatalities and an estimated 171 injuries, marking it as the country’s deadliest aviation disaster in recent history. The Chinese-made F-7BGI aircraft collided with the school in the Uttara neighborhood shortly after takeoff.
The jet took off at 1:06 p.m. local time on July 21, 2025, from an air force base in the capital for a routine training session. Military officials reported that the aircraft encountered a mechanical failure soon after becoming airborne, crashing within minutes into the school’s two-story building and causing a fire and explosion.
The crash claimed the life of the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Md. Towkir Islam. Reports from military officials suggest that he tried to direct the jet towards a less populated area after identifying the mechanical issue.
Milestone School and College, serving around 2,000 students aged four to 18 years, was affected as classes were ending, with many younger students outside. The jet initially hit a five-story building before impacting a smaller two-story structure on the campus.
Witnesses described scenes of chaos. Masud Tarik, a teacher, said, “I only saw fire and smoke.” He mentioned hearing an explosion and seeing flames around the time students and guardians were present.
Emergency responders transported the injured using available means, including tricycle rickshaws. More than 50 people, including children and adults, were taken to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery with burn injuries. Hospital officials noted that at least 83 survivors, mainly students, were receiving treatment in nearby hospitals, with some in critical condition.
The crash site showed significant damage, with footage capturing a large fire near the school lawn and smoke rising into the air. Emergency workers sifted through the charred debris, searching for survivors, as onlookers gathered on nearby buildings to watch the operations.
Bangladesh’s interim government leader, Muhammad Yunus, expressed sorrow over the incident and vowed a thorough investigation. He assured that measures would be taken to determine the cause and provide assistance to those affected. Yunus instructed all authorities, including hospitals, to prioritize the response and declared the incident a moment of profound national pain.
The government declared a national day of mourning for Tuesday, July 22, during which the national flag would be at half-mast at government buildings, educational institutions, and Bangladeshi missions abroad. Special prayers would be held nationwide to honor the victims.
The Bangladesh Air Force has established a high-level investigation committee to determine the exact cause of the mechanical failure. The Uttara neighborhood, where the incident took place, is a densely populated area in northern Dhaka, a city with over 20 million residents.
This incident is the most serious aviation disaster with civilian casualties in Bangladesh in recent decades. Over the past 20 years, multiple crashes involving military and civilian training flights have occurred, resulting in at least 15 prior fatalities, though none matched the scale of Monday’s event. Most previous incidents involved only military flight crew members.
The deadliest previous aviation accident in Bangladesh occurred in 1984 when a passenger plane flying from Chattogram to Dhaka crashed, killing all 49 people on board. That incident did not involve ground casualties at a civilian facility like the school crash on Monday.
Emergency response efforts continued throughout Monday evening as rescue teams worked to ensure all victims were located and survivors received necessary medical care. The investigation into the mechanical failure causing the crash is expected to take several weeks, as authorities examine the aircraft’s maintenance records and flight data.
