Milestone jet crash: Another woman succumbs, death toll 35

One more person died from burn injuries on Saturday morning following the jet crash at Milestone School and College in the capital's Uttara, raising the death toll to 35.

A 13-year-old student, Zarif, succumbed to his burn injuries at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery (NIBPS) at 9:10am. Later, Masuma (38), an ayah (support staff) of the school, died in the ICU at 10:15am.

Residential Surgeon of the institute, Dr Shawon Bin Rahman, said that Zarif had sustained 40 per cent burns, while Masuma suffered 90 per cent burns. 

With the latest deaths, 17 victims have died at the NIBPS, one at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), 15 at Combined Military Hospital (CMH), and one at Shaheed Monsur Ali Medical College Hospital.

Director of the institute, Prof Dr Nasir Uddin, said at a press briefing on Friday afternoon that they would start discharging four to five victims of the jet crash as their condition had improved significantly.

Currently, 38 burn victims of the crash are undergoing treatment at the burn institute. Among them, three are in critical condition and are being treated in the ICU of the facility.

The tragic incident occurred on Monday when an FT-7 fighter jet of the Bangladesh Air Force crashed into a two-storey building of Milestone School and College in Uttara shortly after takeoff around 1:00pm due to a mechanical failure.

The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Towkir Islam, lost his life in the crash.