Military Jet Crash That Killed 31 Sparks Student Protests

A devastating military jet crash in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has left 31 people dead, including at least 25 children, and triggered violent protests across the capital. The tragedy occurred Monday when an F-7 BGI Bangladesh Air Force training jet experienced a mechanical failure and slammed into the Milestone School and College campus, igniting a massive fire.

The children many under the age of 12 were preparing to head home when the jet plowed into the building, trapping them amid flames and debris. The pilot, who reportedly attempted to divert the aircraft away from populated areas, was among those killed.

On Tuesday, grief turned into rage as hundreds of students from the affected school and nearby colleges gathered to demand accountability. Chanting “Why did our brothers die? We demand answers!” the protesters confronted visiting government officials and stormed the main gate of the federal government secretariat.

Police responded with tear gas, batons, and sound grenades, injuring dozens, according to eyewitnesses. Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Talebur Rahman said officers had to act to disperse the crowd but could not provide an exact number of injured protesters.

The protesters are demanding:

• An official list of all victims and injured students.

• The decommissioning of old, “risky” fighter jets used for training.

• A review of air force training practices to avoid future accidents in populated areas.

Parents and relatives of the victims gathered at hospitals and morgues, mourning their losses. Abul Hossain, whose 9-year-old daughter Nusrat Jahan Anika was killed, said, “I took her to school yesterday morning like every day. I had no idea it would be the last time I would see her.”

Another parent, Rubina Akter, described how her son, Raiyan Toufiq, narrowly escaped death. “His shirt caught fire on the staircase, but he ran and rolled on the grass to save himself,” she recalled. “It’s a miracle he survived.”

The interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has declared a national day of mourning, with flags at half-mast and special prayers held across the country. Yunus’s office released a statement saying that the military, government, and hospital officials are working together to publish a full list of victims. It also pledged that the air force will no longer conduct training flights over densely populated areas.

Pope Leo issued a statement expressing his condolences, saying he was “deeply saddened” by the tragedy and praying for the families of the victims and the recovery of the injured.

The F-7 BGI is the final and most advanced version of China’s Chengdu J-7/F-7 aircraft family, itself a derivative of the Soviet MiG-21. Bangladesh purchased 16 of these jets in 2011, with deliveries completed by 2013. However, critics have long raised concerns about their safety and reliability.

This disaster comes just weeks after neighboring India experienced the worst aviation tragedy in a decade, when an Air India plane crashed into a medical college hostel in Ahmedabad, killing 260 people.

Bangladesh is currently under a politically fragile interim government following months of unrest that forced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee the country last year. Elections are scheduled for next year, but tensions remain high amid demands to expedite the process.

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