NEW DELHI, July 22 — At least 19 people were killed and more than 100 injured after a Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) training aircraft crashed into a college building in Dhaka on Monday.
The F-7 jet crashed into the Milestone School and College campus in Dhaka’s Uttara area around 1.15 pm.
The number of injured in the crash was more than 160, most of them students, according to local media reports.
“The aircraft had departed from the Bangladesh Air Force Base AK Khandaker in Dhaka at 1:06pm as part of a routine training exercise. Shortly after take-off, the jet encountered a mechanical failure, the exact nature of which will be determined through a formal investigation,” the military said in a statement.
“This is a moment of profound grief for the nation,” Bangladesh interim government chief Muhammad Yunus said.
The government has announced a day of mourning on Tuesday.
The dead included many children.
Personnel from the Bangladesh Army, Fire Service and Civil Defence, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and police were on the site working to retrieve the bodies and extinguish the fire.
