“Only Country Will Suffer”: Bangladesh Air Chief Urges Calm Amid Dhaka Jet Crash Protests

Viusal from the site. (File Photo: IANS/@SuPriyoBabul/X)

Amid Dhaka jet crash protests, Bangladesh Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan appealed to the protesting students for calm, saying that if the unrest continues, only the people and the country will suffer.

“You are the people of our country. An accident is an accident. We are trying to bring the situation fully under control. If unrest continues, no one else will be harmed, except for our country,” the Dhaka Tribune reported, quoting the Air Chief.

Air Chief Marshal Khan also urged people not to pay any heed to rumours and said that false information was being circulated on social media.

“Please do not listen to any rumours on social media. A strong air force is essential for the sovereignty of the country... It is truly unfortunate that unrest is prevailing around the crash site. Many rumours are spreading. Do not listen to them,”  the Air Chief said.

On Tuesday, massive protests took place at the site of the accident and outside the Secretariat building in the Bangladeshi capital, with students demanding the immediate resignation of the interim government's education adviser and education secretary.

The protestors demanded publication of a correct list of the names of the deceased and those injured, along with the compensation details for the families of the victims.

They also demanded an immediate discontinuation of the use of outdated and unsafe training aircraft used by the Bangladesh Air Force, reported Bangladesh’s leading daily, the Daily Star.

Bangladesh’s Awami League has strongly condemned the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus for launching a harsh crackdown on anti-government protests that erupted following the recent tragic plane crash in Dhaka.

According to local media reports, at least 75 students were injured during the police action and were subsequently treated at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. 

Dhaka Jet Crash

According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media division of the South Asian nation's Armed Forces, the Bangladesh Air Force's F-7 BGI training aircraft took off at 1:06 pm, local time on Monday and crashed into the Milestone School and College building in Dhaka's Uttara around 1.30 PM. The deceased majorly included students, authorities announced on Tuesday.

At least 32 people have been killed, most of them reportedly children, and more than 165 others, including students, injured after a Bangladesh Air Force fighter jet crashed into the campus of Milestone School and College in Uttara, Dhaka.

(With IANS Inputs)