19 People Died And Dozens Injured While Air Force Jets Crashed On Campus

Illustration of the F-7 BGI training jet that crashed in an accident in Bangladesh. (Wikimedia Commons/Md Shaifuzzaman Aon)

JAKARTA - At least 19 people were killed and 164 others injured when a Bangladeshi Air Force training jet crashed on campus in the capital Dhaka, after experiencing technical problems shortly after takeoff, on Monday a military spokesman said.

The BGI F-7 training jet took off at 13.06 local time from the Bangladesh Air Force base in Kurmitola, Dhaka, as part of a routine training mission, but suffered mechanical damage, Lieutenant Colonel Sami Ud Dowla Chowdhury said.

"Pilots are trying their best to divert planes from densely populated areas. Despite trying their best, the plane crashed into a two-story building belonging to Milestone School and College," he explained.

The pilot of the training jet was among those killed in the incident, the military said, adding a committee had been formed to investigate the cause.

The post-accident video shows a large fire near the grass yard emitting thick plumes of smoke into the sky, while crowds watched from a distance.

Firefighters sprayed water into the rubble of the destroyed plane, which appears to have hit the side of the building, damaging iron lattices, creating gaping holes in the structure, according to footage recorded by Reuters.

"A third grade student was taken dead, and three others, aged 12, 14, and 40, were hospitalized," said Bidhan Sarker, head of the burn unit at the Hospital and Faculty of Medicine Dhaka, where several victims were being treated.

Images from the scene also showed people screaming and crying while others tried to entertain them.

"When I picked up my kids and went to the gate, I realized something was coming from behind. I heard an explosion. When I looked back, I just saw fire and smoke," said Masud Pull, a teacher at the school.

It is known that the BGI F-7 training jet is the last and most advanced variant in the family of China's Chengdu J-7/F-7 aircraft, according to the Jane's Information Group.

Bangladesh signed a contract for 16 aircraft in 2011 and its deliveries completed in 2013.

Chengdu F-7 is the MiG-21 version of the Soviet Union produced by China based on a license.

The incident comes about a month after an Indian Air plane crashed on a medical college dormitory in India's Ahmedababad City, which killed 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 people on land, marking the world's worst flight disaster in a decade.