One Year After Bangladesh School Jet Crash, Families Still Seek Answers

Thu Sep 10 2026 13:19:18 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

Families of victims of Bangladesh’s worst aviation accident demand answers a year on, as investigations and memorials reveal unresolved pain and policy gaps.

A training aircraft burst into the roof of Milestone School in Dhaka on 21 July 2025, killing 36 people, most of them children, and leaving surviving students with lasting trauma. A year later, families and survivors gathered for a memorial, demanding transparency over answers and compensation that remain unfulfilled. A full committee report – released last November – blamed building code violations, poor pilot training and inadequate oversight, but the government has yet to publish its findings. While officials promise medical support, victims still suffer severe injuries and emotional scars.

One Year After Bangladesh School Jet Crash, Families Still Seek Answers

On 21 July 2025 a Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft exploded against the roof of Milestone School and College in Dhaka’s Uttara neighbourhood, killing 36 people – mostly children – and setting the building ablaze. A year after the scene of horror, hundreds of survivors, students and relatives convened at a memorial held in a Dhaka hospital to demand truth and justice.

Nure Jannat Yusha, a sixth‑grade girl who suffered burn injuries, has been unable to return to school. “If I see a plane I feel afraid, I can’t sleep. In my dreams I am thrown into the fire,” she told BBC Bengali, echoing the voices of many victims whose trauma now lingers in their daily lives.

Yusha’s mother, Yasin Akter, describes how her daughter’s dream of becoming a dancer has been shattered. "My daughter screams and is afraid," she said, adding that Yusha no longer wishes to study.

Behind the tragedy, a committee report unveiled during the national mourning announced serious breaches of building code at Milestone School and other 600 structures within flight‑danger zones, including schools and hospitals. The report also revealed that the pilot had insufficient training and no proper ground supervision, contradicting early claims by the Armed Forces that a mechanical fault caused the crash.

Despite a commission’s findings being submitted in November, the government has yet to release the full report. Families have called for disclosure and for timely compensation, which was recommended by the investigation but remains unimplemented.

In attendance at the memorial, Mansur Helal, husband of a victim, made a poignant remark: ‘No one can guarantee that another plane will not fall onto this school in the future.’ The emotional plea was backed by the government’s Health Minister, Sardar Sakhawat Hossain, who pledged support for survivors needing further medical treatment.

Families of the burned victims also highlight the structural failure of the school – the building had only one door for 800‑900 students. They insist that lessons must be learnt: stricter enforcement of flight‑path regulations, better emergency provisions and immediate delivery of promised support.

For the students who once smiled on the school grounds, the memory of the fire has brought a grief that may never fully subside. Harm to their physical health, learning capabilities and, more profoundly, their sense of safety continues to haunt them–and their families—to the present day.