A somber mood prevailed at Milestone School and College in Uttara, Dhaka, on Tuesday. Some were seen crying for their beloved classmates, while teachers remained silent and grief-stricken over the loss of their dear colleagues.
Amid this, BBC Bangla spoke with Nasiruddin, a physical education teacher at the school who survived Monday’s fighter jet crash. He witnessed his beloved students burning in the raging fire right before his eyes.
Recalling the horrific crash, Nasiruddin said, “There was a loud, intense sound. I immediately came out of my room and saw a part of the building had collapsed. Then everyone was shouting ‘fire, fire.’ When I went to the spot where the plane had crashed, I saw the fire had just started, but as time passed, the fire grew stronger.”
He informed that fire service personnel, army, and air force members arrived at the site shortly after the crash.
Nasiruddin said, “We kept throwing water on the fire repeatedly, but it would not come under control. After a while, I noticed several students calling my name and begging, ‘Sir, save us.’”
He added, “Together with a few others, I broke a grill and rescued around 12 to 13 people. About half an hour later, I returned to my department. When I got there, my peon told me that the entire department had collapsed.”
Pilot Md Tauqir Islam Sagar
Nasiruddin’s office is in the physical education department. After the army and air force began rescue operations at the devastated building, he returned to his department.
“Inside, I saw my desk completely destroyed. Looking up, I saw a parachute. There was speculation that someone might have come down,” he said.
He further said, “The air force personnel searched and found the pilot in a corner of my room. The pilot had fallen through the tin roof and landed inside my room. He was rescued from there.”
On Monday afternoon, a Bangladesh Air Force fighter jet crashed into a building of Milestone School and College. So far, 32 people including pilot Md Tauqir Islam Sagar have died in the incident.
The Inter-Service Public Relations Directorate (ISPR) reported after 2 pm on Tuesday that as of 12 noon, 31 people had died and 165 were injured.
Late Tuesday night, around 12:15 am, a student named Nafi died at the National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU).