At least 27 killed as Bangladesh Air Force jet crashes into school

Jet experienced technical problem shortly after take-off

At least 27 people were killed and 170 injured when a Bangladesh Air Force training jet crashed into a college and school campus in the capital Dhaka on Monday.

The F-7 BGI jet encountered a mechanical failure shortly after take-off, said Lt Col Sami Ud Dowla Chowdhury. He said it took off shortly after 1pm from the Bangladesh Air Force base in Kurmitola, Dhaka, as part of a routine training mission.

"So far, 27 people have died. Among them, 25 are children and one is a pilot," Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to the chief adviser for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said.

"The pilot made a valiant attempt to divert the aircraft away from densely populated areas," he said. "Despite his best efforts, the aircraft crashed into a two-storey building belonging to Milestone School and College."

Video of the aftermath of the crash showed a large fire and thick plume of smoke, 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 the building, damaging iron grilles and creating a gaping hole in the structure, footage filmed by Reuters showed.

The pilot was among those killed, the military said. It said a committee had been set up to investigate the cause.

"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 burns unit at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, where some of the injured were taken.

Bangladesh air crash - in pictures

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  Bangladesh's fire service and security personnel conduct a search and rescue operation after an Air Force training jet crashed into a school in Dhaka. AFP

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  The mother of an injured student weeps inside a hospital in Dhaka. AFP

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  An ambulance carries an injured person. EPA

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  The scene in Dhaka after the crash. AFP

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  People crowd a street as fire fighting lorries remain on standby outside the school. AFP

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  Firemen look for the survivors. AP

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  Onlookers watch the rescue operation. Reuters

Images from the scene also showed people screaming and crying as others tried to comfort them.

"When I was picking up my kids and went to the gate, I realised something came from behind ... I heard an explosion," said Masud Tarik, a teacher at the school. "When I looked back, I only saw fire and smoke."

The F-7 BGI is the final and most advanced model in China's Chengdu J-7/F-7 aircraft family, according to Jane’s Information Group. Bangladesh signed a contract for 16 of the aircraft in 2011. The Chengdu F-7 is a Chinese adaptation of the Soviet MiG-21.

The incident comes a little over a month after an Air India plane crashed into a medical college hostel in Ahmedabad, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground, making it the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade.

The UAE expressed its solidarity with Bangladesh after the tragic crash with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs extending its sincere condolences to the families of the victims, state news agency Wam reported.