Bangladesh Air Force plane crashes into school, killing 27, mostly children

A Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crashed into a school in the capital, Dhaka, soon after take-off on Monday afternoon, catching fire and killing the pilot and at least 26 other people, most of whom were pupils, officials said.

Another 171 pupils were rescued with injuries from a smouldering two-storey building, officials said, including many with burns who were whisked away in helicopters, motorised rickshaws and the arms of firefighters and parents.

Twenty deaths were reported initially, and seven died of their injuries overnight, authorities said on Tuesday morning. Doctors said late on Monday that the condition of about two dozen injured remained critical.

Twenty bodies have been handed over to their families. Some of the charred bodies were beyond recognition and they might need DNA tests for matching. A blood donation camp has been opened at a specialised burn hospital where most of the injured were being treated.

The Chinese-made F-7 BGI training aircraft experienced a “technical malfunction” moments after take-off at 1.06pm local time, and the pilot attempted to divert the plane to a less populated area before crashing into the campus of Milestone School and College, according to a statement from the military.

But it remained unclear how the pilot died: whether he was inside the jet or ejected himself before it hit the building. The military did not provide any details on that.