DHAKA: A Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crashed onto a school campus in northern Dhaka on Monday, killing at least 19 people and injuring others, according to the military and a fire official.
The aircraft crashed onto the campus of Milestone School and College, in Dhaka’s Uttara neighborhood, where students were taking tests or attending regular classes. Television footage showed fire and smoke billowing from the site of the crash.
More than 50 people, including children and adults, were hospitalised with burns, a doctor at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery told reporters.
Parents and relatives panicked at the scene as rescuers, using tri-cycle rickshaws or whatever was available, transported the injured. "Bangladesh Air Force's F-7 BGI training aircraft crashed in Uttara. The aircraft took off at 13:06 (0706 GMT)," the military's public relations department said in a statement.
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.
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, Reuters TV visuals 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.
Visuals also showed people screaming and crying as others tried to comfort them.
Rafiqa Taha, a student at the school who was not present at the time of the crash, told The Associated Press by phone that Milestone School and College, with some 2,000 students, runs classes from elementary to twelfth grade. On Monday, she said, some students were taking tests while others attended regular classes.
“I was terrified watching videos on TV,” said the 16-year-old student. “My God! It’s my school.”
Muhammad Yunus, head of Bangladesh's interim government, said "necessary measures" would be taken to investigate the cause of the accident and "ensure all kinds of assistance".
"The loss suffered by the Air Force...students, parents, teachers and staff, and others in this accident is irreparable," he said.
The incident comes a little over a month after an Air India plane crashed on top of a medical college hostel in neighbouring 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.

With Agencies