A year after deadly jet crash at Bangladesh school, families demand answers

One year after a Bangladeshi air force jet crashed into Milestone School in Dhaka, killing 36 people, including many children, families and survivors are still grappling with trauma and demanding answers. The incident transformed a bustling private school into a scene of chaos and fire, marking the country's deadliest aviation disaster in decades.

Nure Jannat Yusha, a sixth-grade student who survived the crash, shared her ongoing struggles. "Even now, if I go to school and see a plane, I feel afraid. I can't sleep at night. In my dreams, someone is throwing me into the fire," she told BBC Bengali. Yusha was among more than 160 injured, and her mother, Yasin Akter, noted a significant change in her daughter's demeanor, with aspirations of becoming a dancer fading and a new paranoia about planes falling from the sky emerging.

“

Even now, if I go to school and see a plane, I feel afraid. I can't sleep at night. In my dreams, someone is throwing me into the fire.

Families of the victims gathered recently at a memorial service in Dhaka, expressing their continued frustration over the lack of official information. An investigation commission was formed shortly after the crash, and its findings were reportedly submitted to the government in November. However, these findings have not been publicly released, deepening the families' sense of injustice.

“

My daughter screams all day and is afraid.

A copy of the full report obtained by BBC Bengali revealed critical issues, including Milestone School's non-compliance with building codes and the violation of height restrictions by over 600 buildings near Dhaka's airport. The report also indicated that the pilot lacked sufficient training and proper ground supervision, directly contradicting an earlier statement by the Bangladeshi Armed Forces about a mechanical fault in the aircraft. The Bangladesh Armed Forces did not respond to a request for comment.

"No one can give a guarantee that another plane will not fall onto this school in the future," said Mansur Helal, husband of one victim, during the memorial, referencing a recent BBC documentary on the committee's report. The lack of transparency and accountability continues to haunt the survivors and victims' families, leaving them in a state of unresolved grief and fear.

“

No one can give a guarantee that another plane will not fall onto this school in the future.