What happened
A Bangladesh Air Force fighter jet on a routine training mission experienced a mechanical failure and crashed into the Milestone School and College campus in the nation’s capital city of Dhaka Monday. The crash, and the resulting blaze, killed at least 27 people, 25 of whom were children.
Some of the victims’ bodies were charred “beyond recognition,” The Associated Press said. One teacher rescued more than 20 students and later died from her injuries.
Who said what
The pilot made “every effort” to divert the plane to a “more sparsely inhabited location,” the military said. This is the “deadliest plane crash in the Bangladeshi capital in recent memory,” AP said. And it comes as neighboring India is “still grappling” with last month’s Air India crash that killed 260 people and was the “world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade,” said Reuters. The losses from this accident are “irreparable,” said Muhammad Yunus, the leader of Bangladesh’s interim government.
What next?
The air force and the government vowed to investigate the crash. In the meantime, dozens of people remain hospitalized with burns, and worried family members are searching for their missing relatives. Today has been declared a national day of mourning.
A fighter jet experienced a mechanical failure and crashed into a school in Dhaka