At least 60 people, including women and children—most of them students—have sustained burn injuries after a Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crashed on the Milestone College campus in Uttara, Dhaka.

The victims were brought to the emergency department of the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery around 2:30 pm on Monday (July21).

Dr Shawon Bin Rahman, Resident Surgeon at the institute said: "Sixty patients have come to the Burn Institute so far following the accident in Uttara. Most of the patients are in critical condition. All are undergoing treatment. In addition, the body of one person has been brought directly to the hospital."

Earlier Lima Khanam, Duty Officer at the Fire Service and Civil Defence Control Room, at least one person has died in the incident.

Meanwhile, four of the injured have been airlifted by Bangladesh Air Force helicopters to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka for urgent treatment.

A statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed that an F-7 BGI training aircraft of the Bangladesh Air Force crashed in the Uttara area on Monday afternoon.

Initial reports suggest the jet struck the rooftop of the canteen at Milestone College, causing a massive blaze and triggering chaos throughout the campus.

Rescue operations were being carried out by eight fire service units from the Uttara, Tongi, Pallabi, Kurmitola, Mirpur, and Purbachal fire stations. In addition, two platoons of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) joined the recovery efforts on the ground. 
Authorities have not yet disclosed the cause of the crash, and emergency services were still working at the scene at the time of reporting. 

SMS/