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21st July 2025
12:29pm BST
A plane has crashed into a school campus killing at least 16 people in a fireball explosion.
The Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crashed into the Dhaka campus where children were present. Over 50 people have been hospitalised with burns; that is per a doctor at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.
Television footage showed fire and smoke erupting from the crash site as bystanders were seen attempting to put out the flames.
Other videos show students fleeing from the scene.
In a brief statement, the military's public relations department confirmed the aircraft belonged to them, saying: "Bangladesh Air Force's F-7 BGI training aircraft crashed in Uttara. The aircraft took off at 13:06 (0706 GMT)."
Bidhan Sarker, head of the burn unit at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital added: "A third-grade student was brought in dead, and three others, aged 12, 14 and 40, were admitted to the hospital."
A teacher at the school, Masud Tarik, told local outlets: "When I was picking (up) my kids and went to the gate, I realised something came from behind…I heard an explosion. When I looked back, I only saw fire and smoke."
Head of Bangladesh's interim government, Muhammad Yunus, stated that 'necessary measures' would be taken to investigate how the accident occurred and ensured 'all kinds of assistance.'
"The loss suffered by the Air Force…students, parents, teachers and staff, and others in this accident is irreparable."
The incident comes just a month after an Air India plane crashed into a medical college hostel in Ahmedabad city, killing 241 of the 242 people on board as well as 19 on the ground.
It was the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade.