National mourning turned to anger in Bangladesh yesterday as the death toll from a fighter jet crash into a school in Dhaka jumped to 31, sparking protests by hundreds of students against the interim government in a nation gripped by instability.
At least 25 of the dead were children, many under the age of 12, who were about to return home on Monday when the Chinese-manufactured F-7 BGI Bangladesh Air Force jet plowed into Milestone School and College and burst into flames, trapping pupils in the fire and building debris.
Their fellow students and others from nearby schools protested as two government officials visited the crash site, demanding justice and shouting: “Why did our brothers die? We demand answers.”
Photo: AP
Elsewhere in the capital, hundreds of protesting students, some of them waving sticks, broke through the main gate of the federal government secretariat, demanding the resignation of the education adviser, local TV footage showed.
Police baton charged them and forced them out.
Rescue workers continued to scour the charred buildings for debris as distressed residents of the area looked on. Some parents were inconsolable.
“I took her to school yesterday morning like every day. I had no idea it would be the last time I would be seeing her,” said Abul Hossain, breaking down as he spoke about his nine-year-old daughter, Nusrat Jahan Anika, killed in the crash.
She was buried on Monday night.
Rubina Akter said her son Raiyan Toufiq had a miraculous escape after his shirt caught fire when he was on a staircase.
“He sprinted to the ground floor and jumped on the grass to douse it,” she said. “He tore his shirt and vest inside which saved him from severe burns.”
The jet had taken off from a nearby air base on a routine training mission, the military said, adding that the plane experienced a mechanical failure and the pilot was among those killed. Although he tried to divert the aircraft away from populated areas, the jet crashed into the campus.
The military said in a statement that 31 people had died and 165 had been admitted to hospitals in the city.
The Bangladeshi Ministry of Health and Family Welfare later said that 70 were still receiving treatment.
The government announced a day of mourning, with flags at half-mast and special prayers at all places of worship.
The protesting students called for those killed and injured to be named, for air force compensation to the families of those killed, the decommissioning of what they said were old and risky jets, and a changing of air force training procedures.
The F-7 BGI is the final and most advanced variant in China’s Chengdu J-7/F-7 aircraft family, according to Jane’s Information Group. Bangladesh signed a contract for 16 aircraft in 2011 and deliveries were completed by 2013.
The Chengdu F-7 is a license-built version of the Soviet era MiG-21.
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