On 21 July 2025, a training aircraft of the Bangladesh Air Force plunged into Milestone School and College in Dhaka’s Uttara neighbourhood, crashing into the building and setting it ablaze. The tragedy claimed 36 lives, most of them students, and stunned the nation with its scale and brutality.
A year later, families, survivors and activists still await the findings of the investigation commission that was established to probe the accident. According to a BBC‑obtained copy of the full report, the cause was a confluence of issues: the school’s failure to meet building codes, a lack of height restrictions for structures near the international airport, and the pilot’s insufficient flight training and supervision. Notably, the jet itself was found to be free of mechanical defects, a conclusion that contradicts early statements from the armed forces blaming a mechanical fault.
Survivors like sixth‑grade student Nure Jannat Yusha, who suffered severe burns, report ongoing physical injuries, nightmares and a loss of the aspiration to study. Other victims’ families also mourn the loss of those who lived the day fully: a schoolteacher who died rescuing students and a girl in fifth grade unable to attend school due to her burns.
The committee’s report was submitted to the government last November, but it remains unpublished, pushing protestors to demand government accountability and comprehensive support for medical treatment, rehabilitation and compensation. Health Minister Sardar Sakhawat Hossain acknowledged governmental support while Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s wife hailed the survivors’ courage as an inspiration for the nation.
The scene, photographed moments after the crash, shows emergency responders sifting through charred rubble, a grim reminder of the lives lost and the pending questions that families and the public continue to ask—“no one can guarantee that another plane will not fall”—the words of a mourning husband echoed during the memorial.
