Ten Minutes Fact Check

‘Miss, where is my child?’

One by one, ambulances rush through the area blaring sirens, guarded by military vehicles. Army personnel use sharp whistles to clear traffic and manage the crowd. Amid the chaos, a woman screams into her mobile phone.

“Miss, where is my child?” she pleads repeatedly.

Concerned parents have rushed to Milestone School and College in Dhaka’s Uttara after an Air Force training plane crashed onto the campus on Monday, injuring and burning several children. The distraught woman is one of the mothers desperate for news of their child.

As she cried in front of the school gate, locals came forward. They asked her which class her son was in and what his name was. She told them his name was Sajjad Sadee, a student in Class 10.

The locals reassured her, saying that students in Class 10 were not affected. They said they had gone inside and most of the injured were from Class 4 and Class 5.

Afterwards, the woman told bdnews24.com: “My son is giving his pre-test exams. He does not have a phone. It has been so long and we haven’t heard any news. I somehow managed to get here. I called his class teacher, but they did not know anything. His teachers haven’t been able to give me any news either.”

At least one person has died and around 50 others, mostly students, have been injured or burnt when the F-7 BGI training jet crashed shortly after takeoff around 1pm.

The plane caught fire right after the crash. A plume of thick smoke could be seen from quite a distance. Eight Fire Service units rushed to the scene to put out the flames.

Some of the burnt and injured victims were taken to Crescent Hospital in Uttara.

Nazmul Islam, the hospital’s director of administration, said: “We have treated 15 people. Two of them are teachers and the rest are students.”

“Those with minor burns are being treated here. Some are under observation. Those with more than 30 percent burns on their bodies are being referred to the burn unit.”

Dr Shawon Bin Rahman, resident surgeon at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, said: “So far, we have received 30 patients in our emergency department.”

“The number continues to rise. Most of the burn victims are students, and all of their conditions are critical.”