Bangladeshi forces clash with supporters of ousted leader Hasina, leaving at least 4 dead
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Arab News
17 hours ago
- Arab News
Bangladesh in mourning after many schoolchildren killed in military jet crash
Dhaka: When Fatema Akter went to school in the morning, she was supposed to be back home in the early afternoon. She never returned, along with at least 28 other children who were killed when a Bangladeshi military jet crashed into their classroom in Dhaka. Bangladesh observed a day of national mourning on Tuesday, a day after the Air Force F-7 BGI aircraft went down during class hours at Milestone School and College in the capital's Diabari area. The jet struck the building, killing many of the children on the spot and causing fatal burn injuries to others, health authorities said, as at least 165 victims remained hospitalized. 'My niece, Fatema Akter, was a student of class three of that school. The school is actually five minutes walking from our home,' Leon Mir, a TV reporter who witnessed the crash that killed his sister's eldest daughter, told Arab News. 'I saw a huge smoke and the roads were blocked after the plane crashed on the school. Immediately, I rushed to the school ... somehow, I managed to enter. Seeing the situation on the ground, I was lost.' As he reached the site, he could not see Akter and started to search for her at emergency units of local hospitals. He eventually found her at the Combined Military Hospital in another part of the city. 'She died on the spot, and her body was transported to the CMH by helicopter. I first found her school ID card and later on recognized her face,' Mir said. Bangladeshi authorities have mobilized burn specialists and pediatricians from across the country to treat patients injured in the Dhaka disaster. Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to the government on health, told reporters that 30 patients admitted to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka remain in serious condition, and at least 10 are critical. Most are students. Rahman said that among the 31 people killed in the crash were the pilot and two teachers. One of them, Maherin Chowdhury, sustained 100 percent burns while rescuing at least 20 students from the burning primary school building. As bereaved families began to bury their children, at least five of them were from the families of Mir's neighbors. 'This morning, another one died at the hospital,' he said. 'Since the accident, I haven't been able to look at my sister's face ... it's unimaginable — you send your child to school in the morning and receive their burnt body in the afternoon.'
Al Arabiya
21 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Bangladesh mourns 31 dead in jet crash as students protest to demand accountability
Hundreds of students protested near the site of the crash of a Bangladesh air force training jet into a school in the nation's capital, demanding accountability, compensation for victims' families, and the halt of training flights. The death toll from the crash rose to 31 on Tuesday, including 25 students, a teacher who died from burn injuries she sustained while helping others get out of the burning building, and the pilot of the training aircraft. Firefighters further secured the scene of the crash in Dhaka's densely-populated Uttara neighborhood while an investigation by the military was ongoing. The country's civil aviation authority was not involved in the investigation directly. Bangladesh in shock after the crash involving its air force marked Tuesday as a national day of mourning with the national flag flying at half-staff across the country. Monday's crash at the Milestone School and College caused a fire that left the two-story school building in Dhaka in flames. Officials said 171 people, mostly students and many with burns, were rescued and taken from the scene in helicopters, ambulances, motorized rickshaws, and in the arms of firefighters and parents. The students protesting outside the crash site at the Milestone School and College demanded accurate publication of identities of the dead and injured, compensation for the families, and an immediate halt to the use of outdated and unsafe training aircraft by the Bangladesh air force. They chanted slogans and accused security officials of beating them and manhandling teachers on Monday. The students also became furious after two senior government advisers arrived at the scene, forcing the officials to take cover. On Tuesday, 78 people, mostly students, remained hospitalized, said Sayeedur Rahman, a special assistant to Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus. Twenty deaths were reported initially, and seven died of their injuries overnight, authorities said. Maherin Chowdhury, a teacher who rescued more than 20 students from the burning school, died from severe burn injuries, her colleague Tanzina Tanu said. Doctors said late Monday that the condition of about two dozen injured remained critical. A blood donation camp has been opened at a specialized burn hospital where most of the injured were being treated. Twenty bodies have been handed over to their families with some of them possibly needing DNA matching after they were charred beyond recognition. Many relatives waited overnight at a specialized burn hospital for the bodies of their loved ones. The Chinese-made F-7 BGI training aircraft experienced a technical malfunction moments after takeoff from the A.K. Khandaker air force base at 1:06 p.m. Monday, according to a statement from the military. The pilot, Flight Lt. Mohammed Toukir Islam, made every effort to divert the aircraft away from densely populated areas toward a more sparsely inhabited location, the military said, adding that it would investigate the cause of the crash. The Milestone school, about an 11-kilometer (7-mile) drive from the air force base, is in a densely populated area near a metro station and numerous shops and homes. It was the pilot's first solo flight as he was completing his training course. It remained unclear if he managed to eject before the jet hit the building. The first funeral prayers were held for the pilot in Dhaka on Tuesday morning, and second prayers will be held in southwestern Rajshahi district where his parents live. It is the deadliest plane crash in the Bangladeshi capital in recent memory. In 2008, another F-7 training jet crashed outside Dhaka, killing its pilot who had ejected after he discovered a technical problem.
Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
Pakistan police say woman shot seven, man nine times in ‘honor killing' incident
QUETTA: The woman victim of the Balochistan 'honor killing' incident was shot seven times while the male victim received nine bullet injuries, Pakistan police confirmed after conducting a post-mortem examination of the slain individuals this week. The killings in the southwestern Balochistan province, which took place in June, made headlines and triggered outrage in Pakistan after a video showing the couple being shot went viral online last week. The woman, identified by police as Bano Bibi Satakzai and the man, Ehsan Ullah Sumalani, were both shot dead in the Dagari area located on the outskirts of Quetta. Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti told reporters on Monday that 12 suspects have been arrested in connection with the violence, including a tribal leader, who allegedly ordered the couple to be shot. Bugti hinted during the press conference, avoiding to share details, that both victims were allegedly having an extramarital affair. Dr. Ayesha Faiz, a Balochistan Police surgeon, told Arab News that Satakzai and Sumalani were killed on June 4 and buried in different graveyards in Dagari. 'After the postmortem, it was found that Bano Bibi had received seven bullet injuries on her head, abdomen and chest, and Ehsan Ullah received nine bullets on his chest and abdomen,' Faiz said. Syed Saboor Agha, head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Wing (SCIW) leading the probe, said police have taken nine other people into custody on suspicion of hiding the crime from authorities. He confirmed the victims were involved in an extramarital affair. 'The prime accused in this case is Jalal, (brother) of murdered Bano Bibi who is still undercover and raids are being conducted to arrest him,' Agha said. 'Because his arrest will likely uncover further details as he was the woman's brother, who along with his maternal uncle, opened fire at them.' So-called honor killings are common in Pakistan, where family members and relatives sometimes kill women and men who don't follow local traditions and culture or decide to marry of their own choice. Yasmeen Mughal, the provincial coordinator for the Aurat Foundation, a non-profit that monitors violence against women and cases of honor killings in Pakistan, said 212 people have been killed in so-called honor cases in Balochistan in the last five years. Of these, she said 33 women were killed last year. Raza Rumi, a Pakistani policy analyst, journalist and author who is currently a lecturer at The City University of New York, said tribal councils or jirgas have no legal or moral authority to decide matters involving human life. 'Honor killings are criminal acts, not cultural practices,' Rumi said. 'Allowing jirgas to decide such cases legitimizes violence and undermines the constitution and rule of law.' Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the incident on Monday, tasking Bugti to hold an investigation and punish those behind the killings. 'No one is above the law and no one can be allowed to take the law into their own hands,' Sharif said. 'All legal steps should be taken to bring the suspects to justice.'
