DHAKA, July 22: Thousands of students on Tuesday protested during the visit of the interim government’s top officials to the site of the crash of a Bangladesh Air Force training jet, as the death toll in the country’s one of the deadliest aviation accidents rose to 31, including 25 children.
The F-7 BGI aircraft, a training fighter jet manufactured in China, experienced a “mechanical fault” moments after takeoff and crashed into a two-storey building of Milestone School and College in Dhaka’s Uttara area on Monday, according to officials.
The death toll from the crash rose to 31, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) – the media wing of the military.
Earlier, Chief Adviser’s special adviser, Saidur Rahman, told reporters that at least 25 deceased were children and many of them under the age of 12 who succumbed to extensive burn injuries. Authorities fear the toll could further rise.
Sharing the details, the ISPR said that 16 people died at the Combined Military Hospital, 10 at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, two at Lubana General Hospital, and one each at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Uttara Adhunik Medical College Hospital, and United Hospital.
It added that 165 of the injured are undergoing treatment at 10 hospitals in Dhaka. Students of Milestone School and College, as well as from nearby schools, staged a protest this morning, demanding the accurate disclosure of the information about those killed, compensation for victims’ families and the immediate discontinuation of outdated and unsafe training aircraft used by the Bangladesh Air Force.
Law Adviser Asif Nazrul, Education Adviser CR Abrar, and Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam visited the crash site, where agitating students confronted them and shouted slogans in favour of their demands. The advisers took shelter inside one of the school buildings.
Despite security vigils by army and paramilitary troops, the students laid a siege to the building where the advisers took shelter. They alleged that the authorities were deliberately hiding the actual death toll.
Yunus’ office, however, issued a statement, refuting the students’ claim.
“We are observing with deep concern that different quarters are spearheading a misleading campaign that the casualty figures are being concealed. We want to firmly inform all that the claim is not correct,” it said.
Rahman told reporters that 20 bodies have been handed over to their families so far.
“We are continuing all possible efforts to provide medical care. However, the condition of some patients remains extremely critical,” Rahman told the reporters at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery (NIBPS) in the capital.
The school authorities and hospital staff said several parents were frantically looking for their missing children throughout the night.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh observed a national mourning on Tuesday, keeping its national flag at half-mast atop all government, semi-government, and autonomous bodies and educational institutions across the country. The Supreme Court and all lower judiciary across Bangladesh observed a one-minute silence.
Officials said the crashed aircraft is the final and most advanced variant of China’s Chengdu J-7/F-7 aircraft family. Bangladesh signed a contract for 16 aircraft in 2011, and deliveries were completed by 2013.
The Bangladesh Air Force has formed a high-level investigation committee to determine the cause of the accident.
The pilot attempted to steer the aircraft away from densely populated areas. However, despite his efforts, the aircraft tragically crashed into the two-storey building of the school, said the ISPR.
The crash was one of the deadliest in Bangladesh’s history.
In the last such aviation tragedy in 1984, a total of 49 people were killed when a passenger jet crashed as it attempted to land during a severe rainstorm at the Dhaka airport. (PTI)
