At least 25 children out of the 27 dead were pulled from scorched buildings after a Bangladesh Air Force jet on a training mission crashed into a college and school campus in Dhaka, officials said. However, 88 people who sustained injuries were hospitalised and were being treated.
On Monday, July 21, 2025, the F-7 plane crashed soon after it took off at 1:06 p.m. (0706 GMT) from the airbase in Kurmitola in the capital on a routine training mission. The military said the plane experienced a mechanical failure.
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Video showed rescue workers scouring the charred buildings for debris as distressed family members surrounded the site.
Special assistant to the chief adviser on health, Sayedur Rahman, told reporters that 27 people were killed in the crash and 88 were hospitalised with burn injuries. Those dead included 25 children, a teacher and the pilot.
The government announced a day of mourning, with flags at half-mast and special prayers at all places of worship.
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According to Jane’s Information Group, the F-7 BGI is the final and most advanced variant in China’s Chengdu J-7/F-7 aircraft family. In 2011 Bangladesh signed a contract for 16 aircraft and deliveries were completed by 2013.
This incident came a little over a month after an Air India plane crashed on top of a medical college dorm near India’s Ahmedabad city, killing 241 of the 242 passengers on board and 19 on the ground, marking the world’s worst aviation accident in ten years.
