Bangladesh: Airforce plane crashes into school; at least 16 killed, dozens injured

A Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crashed atop a school building in Dhaka on Monday, killing at least 16 people, most of them children, and injuring over a hundred, officials said. Some reports have placed the death toll at 19.

The aircraft crashed into the Milestone School and College campus in Dhaka's Uttara area.

“At least 16 people died following the crash of the air force craft in the Milestone College campus," said Md Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to chief adviser Muhammad Yunus for the health ministry.

Yunus expressed "deep grief and sorrow" over the incident in a social media post. "The loss suffered by the Air Force, the students, parents, teachers, and staff of Milestone School and College, as well as others affected by this accident, is irreparable," he said. "This is a moment of profound pain for the nation."

Earlier, the defence ministry in a statement said the F-7 BGI training aircraft took off at 1.06 pm local time and crashed into the institution's campus soon after. The F-7BGI is an advanced version of the Chinese J-7 fighter.

VIDEO | Dhaka: A Bangladesh Air Force F-7 aircraft crashed into a college classroom, with casualties feared. Rescue teams have reached the site, and relief operations are currently underway. Visuals from the crash site show the extent of the damage. pic.twitter.com/mVbRwOSoMT

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 21, 2025

The plane crashed with a huge bang and immediately caught fire, a fire service official said. According to an NDTV report, the aircraft's pilot, identified as Flight Lieutenant Mohammed Toukir Islam, was also killed in the crash, along with 16 children and two teachers. Over 100 people, a large number of them students, were injured, some with severe burns.

According to police, firefighting units, ambulances, and air force helicopters rushed to the scene soon after the crash. Several media reports have quoted doctors as saying at least eight of the injured are in critical condition, with the number of injured increasing. 

A Bangladesh Air Force Chengdu F-7 BGI crashes onto a school campus in Dhaka’s northern Uttara area, killing at least 1 person and injuring others, according to the military and a fire official.

The aircraft crashed on a campus of the Milestone School and College in Dhaka’s… pic.twitter.com/SWwCpxcW4Y

— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) July 21, 2025

A teacher of the school said dozens of ambulances were carrying the wounded to nearby hospitals.

One report from AP quoted Rafiqa Taha, a 16-year-old student who was not present in school when the crash happened, who said the institution had around 2,000 students, from elementary to Class XII. "I was terrified watching videos on TV," she said. "My God! It's my school."

Video and still images shared online showed fire and smoke billowing from the site while emergency personnel tried to put out the blaze. One clip, shared by news agency PTI, showed the wrecked engine buried under the rubble of what was a classroom.

With PTI inputs