Families of Milestone School crash survivors demand answers a year later
On 21 July 2025, a Bangladeshi Air Force training aircraft took off from Dhaka air base and fatally struck the Milestone School and College in the Uthra neighbourhood. Sixteen students, teachers and a school employee lost their lives, while more than 160 people were injured. It remains the country’s deadliest aviation disaster.
Families and survivors gathered two weeks ago for the first memorial marking the one‑year anniversary of the incident. Most of the attendees, including Nure Jannat Yusha, a sixth‑grade student who survived the blaze, wrestle with lasting trauma. Yusha says she now fears planes and cannot sleep, describing dreams of fire and being lifted from the ground.
Yurka’s mother, Yasin Akter, reports that her daughter’s future plans to become a dancer were shattered by the crash. She laments that her granddaughter now has no interest in studies and lives in constant fear. A similar story echoes from Mehreen Chowdhury, a fifth‑grade student who has been unable to attend school because her burns flare whenever she is exposed to sunlight.
The outstanding investigative commission report, released last November but not yet made public, highlights several key findings: the school’s building code was non‑compliant, 600+ structures—including schools and hospitals—surrounding Dhaka airport violated height restrictions, the pilot had insufficient training, and the aircraft did not suffer a mechanical fault. The report calls for comprehensive compensation, but no action to date.
During the memorial, victims’ relatives highlighted the lack of safety measures and pressed the government for the release of the full report. Long‑time survivor Mansur Helal addressed the crowd, quoting the BBC documentary that “no one can guarantee another plane will not fall into a school”.
Health Minister Sardar Sakhawat Hossain affirmed that the government would support survivors needing further medical treatment. Politician’s wife, Zubaida Rahman, lauded survivors’ courage as “a source of inspiration for the nation”. Yet both families and children continue to live with crippling injuries and psychological scars, reflecting a broader systemic failure in aviation safety standards and governance.
