Diabari jet crash: Milestone School staffer Masuma dies from burns as death toll rises to 35

Masuma, who suffered 90 percent burns, was on life support, says a surgeon

A woman who served as a staffer at Milestone School and College has succumbed to critical burn injuries suffered during the fighter jet crash on campus, pushing the official death toll to 35.

Masuma, 38, died around 10:15am on Saturday at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery while on life support, said Dr Shawon Bin Rahman, a surgeon at the hospital.

“She had suffered 90 percent burns, including damage to her respiratory tract. She was under intensive care,” he told reporters.

Masuma was the second fatality reported on Saturday morning. An hour earlier, the doctor had confirmed the death of 13-year-old seventh grader Zarif, who also died from extensive burns, covering 40 percent of his body, sustained in the crash.

With Masuma's death, the burn institute has now recorded 17 fatalities since the accident. It is now the deadliest military aviation disaster in Bangladesh’s history.

Masuma, originally from Borhanuddin in Bhola district, lived with her husband Selim and two children in Turag’s Noyanagar neighbourhood. Selim said his wife had worked as an “Aya”, a caretaker, at the school for years.

“She went to work like every other day. We never imagined this could happen,” he said.

As of Saturday morning, 38 people remain hospitalised, with three of them still in critical condition in the ICU, according to Shawon.

The Bangladesh Air Force fighter jet had crashed into a building on the Milestone School and College campus just after noon on Monday. Most of the 35 people who died were children, according to authorities.

In addition to the fatalities, 48 more, many of them suffering severe burns, remain under treatment at the burn institute, Combined Military Hospital (CMH), and other facilities.

The incident has sparked nationwide grief and calls for accountability over military aircraft safety near civilian institutions.