'Stood amid flames': How hero teacher saved students from Bangladesh jet crash
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'Stood amid flames': How hero teacher saved students from Bangladesh jet crash")
Bangladesh's fire service and security personnel conduct a search and rescue operation after an Air Force training jet crashed into a school in Dhaka. Photograph: (AFP)
Bangladesh air force jet crash: Chowdury, 42, died at Dhaka's Medical College Hospital. She had suffered 100 per cent burns.
Maherin Chowdhury, a teacher at Milestone School and College in Dhaka’s Uttara, was among those who died on Monday, after aBangladesh Air Force (BAF) training jet crashed into the school campus. She was killed trying to protect her students. The death toll of the crash reached 27 on Tuesday, with at least 88 people being treated in hospitals.
Chowdury, 42, died at Dhaka's Medical College Hospital. She hadsuffered 100 per cent burns. Eyewitnesses said she didn't hesitate even for a moment before embracing several students to protect them from the fire.
Fahim Khan, a student, said that after the blast, he found the teacher holding several children tightly against her chest. She was still standing amid the flames, protecting them. While the children survived, the woman died during treatment. "She was still standing amid the flames, protecting them," he said.
Her husband, Monsur Helal, told Daily Observer that the teacher told him before dying that the aircraft had crashed when shewas leading the children out of the classroom.
Meanwhile, rescuer Ramjan Ali Seikh told Dhaka Tribune that Junayet, a Class 3 student, died in his arms.
"When I found him, his condition was so serious. His little body was burned, and he could not breathe properly. He took his last breath in front of my eyes," he said.
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Aviation experts questioned the rationale behind allowing training aircraft fly over a densely populated area like Dhaka.
Kazi Wahidul Alam told the Daily Star that operating training aircraft in civilian areas is dangerous.
"Despite the risks, the air force aircraft continue to use the sole runway at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. We have long been demanding the relocation of the air force base near Dhaka airport," he said.
A BAF pilot told the paper, requesting anonymity, that training in such a populated area poses additional challenges to military jet pilots.
"Although the entire field is supposed to be clear of any building over one or two storeys, there are plenty of high-rise buildings in the flight path. As a result, we have to gain altitude very fast and remain at higher altitudes," he added.
The fighter jets, FT-7 BGI, can fly at a speed of over 2400 km per hour.
Imran Asif, the CEO of Air Astra, said the civilian deaths could have been avoided had the training been conducted from the air force base outside the Bangladeshi capital.
Another senior pilot said he had never faced a delay anywhere in the world on account of the air force operating from a civilian airport. "Dhaka and Chattogram are probably the only international airports that allow such fighter jet activities," he said.
Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the pilot tried to steer the plane towards a less-populated area but failed. The crash took place due to a mechanical failure.