The aircraft struck the building at around 1:06pm local time, just as students were leaving for the day.
At least 19 people have died and over 100 injured after a military training jet crashed into Milestone College, a children’s educational centre in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Monday.
The aircraft struck the building at around 1:06pm local time, just as students were leaving for the day. “A fighter jet has crashed into a building of Milestone College at Diabari area,” said Mohidul Islam, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Uttara division.
Social media videos showed scenes of chaos as flames engulfed the crash site and students fled for safety. “A plane all of a sudden crashed into some coconut trees and other greeneries in our Diabari campus,” said an anonymous director at the college. “Fire engulfed the plane and students frantically rushed to the scene.”
Teacher Nuruzzaman Mridha described the harrowing aftermath: “We transported some of the injured with burns onto a rickshaw and on a van… some were walking towards rescue vehicles with their burnt bodies.”
Eyewitness Fahim Hossain added, “The jet crashed right in front of my eyes – just 10 feet ahead of me.”
Authorities have declared a one-day state mourning. Emergency services remain at the scene.