Tuesday Briefing: A Deadly Jet Crash in Bangladesh
At least 20 people were killed and 171 wounded when a Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crashed yesterday into a school in Dhaka, officials said. The military said that a mechanical error had caused the crash.
The crash occurred at Milestone School and College in an area north of Dhaka's international airport and a military air base. The school has students from elementary to high school grades. An aide to Muhammad Yunus, the leader of the interim government, said that most of the wounded were children and that 25 were in critical condition.
Details: The jet took off from an air base and then crashed into the second floor of the school where third and fourth graders were. An initial report indicated that the pilot, who the military said died in the crash, had tried to maneuver the plane to a less populated area.
Quotable: 'I saw the windows of the aircraft shattered, and it was burning up in flames, with black smoke rising into the sky,' Emon Islam, a high school student who had been nearby, said.
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