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Published : 22 Jul 2025, 02:34 AM
At least five more people, including four students and a teacher, have died following a deadly fighter jet crash at Milestone School and College in Dhaka’s Diabari, taking the total death toll to 25.
The victims had been critically injured or burned when a Bangladesh Air Force F-7 jet plunged into the school building while classes were in session on Monday. The crash left classrooms engulfed in flames, with dozens of students severely burnt.
Dr Shawon Bin Rahman, a physician at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, said four of the latest victims succumbed to their injuries in the evening after being admitted. Another victim was declared dead on arrival at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
The dead were identified as students Tanvir, 14, Afnan Faiyaz, 14, Junayed, 10, AB Shamim, 14, and schoolteacher Mahreen, 46. Their bodies were sent to DMCH morgue.
The jet had crashed into one of the school buildings during class hours. The Fire Service and Civil Defence recovered 19 bodies from the scene after their rescue operation concluded in the afternoon.
Later, the Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR) issued a statement confirming 20 deaths, including the pilot.
However, Chief Advisor’s Special Assistant of health ministry Md Sayedur Rahman offered a slightly different figure, citing 17 confirmed deaths as of Monday night. He said the discrepancy was due to delays in coordination among authorities.
Uttara Division Deputy Commissioner Mohidul Islam said 17 bodies were kept at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH). Eight of them had already been handed over to families without postmortem examinations.
Nuruzzaman, investigation officer at Turag Police Station, said the eight included five female students, two male students, and one parent. He did not disclose their names immediately.
The remaining nine bodies, including that of the pilot, had not been released due to extensive burns.
"Except for the pilot, the rest of the bodies are too badly burned to be identified. Without DNA testing, it is impossible to confirm if they were students or others," the officer said.
DNA samples from the eight charred bodies are scheduled to be collected on Tuesday and tested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), he added.
Earlier at a press briefing at the Burn Institute, Sayedur said: “Seven bodies remain unidentified -- they are only body parts. We are collecting DNA samples.”
“Six of these remains are at CMH, and one is at Uttara Adhunik Hospital. We suspect all are children,” he added.
According to him, “Among the injured with burns, only a few are adults: two teachers, one staff member, and a rescuer. The rest are all children.”
He estimated the number of injured children to be over 100, while non-children injured numbered around 15.
“Very few of the 100 children have been discharged after treatment; most are still in hospital,” he said.
