Nation mourns lost children

The death toll from the jet crash at Milestone School and College rose to 32 yesterday, as the nation reeled from shock and grief following the country's deadliest aviation tragedy in years.

At hospitals, scenes of anguish unfolded as families -- many with children in ICUs -- waited for updates, clinging to hope. Others, less fortunate, moved from one morgue to another in search of their children's bodies.

"When I saw him [in the ICU], he said, 'Abbu, take me away from here.' That's all. I just want to take my son home, healthy."

— Mohammad Mohsin father of Makin, a seventh-grader with severe burns

Meanwhile, grief turned to fury on the Milestone school's Diabari campus, where students demanded to know the true death toll and accountability for the tragedy.

Around 2:00pm yesterday, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said  the death toll from the crash rose to 31. It added that at least 165 people were injured in the crash.

The toll rose to 32 after a nine-year-old victim, Arian Nashraf Nafi, with 95 percent burns, died at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery around 12:15am today, said Resident Surgeon Shawon Bin Rahman.

Nafi's elder sister, Nazia Tabassum, 13, died on Tuesday night, he added.

There was no immediate statement from the health ministry on Nafi's death.

Earlier, the ministry put the death toll at 28, citing double count at certain hospitals. It said 68 patients were undergoing treatment at five hospitals.

The ministry has formed a multidisciplinary committee to oversee treatment efforts. To assist the efforts, Chong Si Jack, a senior consultant and member of a medical team from Singapore General Hospital, arrived last night, said a health ministry official. 

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs yesterday said it was sending a team of burn-specialist doctors and nurses to Dhaka to treat the injured.

The incident shook the nation to its core, as most of the victims of Monday's crash were schoolchildren who had just been let out of class.

An ordinary school day turned into a colossal tragedy when a Bangladesh Air Force F-7  BGI jet suffered a mid-air mechanical fault and ploughed into the school, engulfing the ground floor of a two-story building on the campus in flames and smoke. The building housed classrooms for third and fourth grade students on the ground floor, and the room struck by the plane was used for class three.

Yesterday, the national flag was flown at half-mast at all government, semi-government, autonomous, and educational institutions across the country to mourn the victims.

The bodies of 20 victims, including the jet's pilot, have been handed over to their families. Many of them took their loved ones' bodies back to their home districts.

Meanwhile, students of Milestone School and College staged daylong protests on their Diabari campus, demanding an accurate list of the dead and injured, and a public apology for the alleged assault on teachers after the crash.

The agitating students also prevented two advisers and officials from the Chief Adviser's Press Wing from leaving the campus for nine hours after they went there to convey their sympathies to the students and teachers. They were finally escorted out around 7:30pm.

NUMBER MISMATCH

Before the late-night update, the ISPR had put the death toll at 31 -- nine more than the previous day.

According to ISPR data, 16 people died at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), 10 at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, two at Lubana General Hospital, and one each at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Uttara Adhunik Medical College Hospital, and United Hospital. It also said 165 others were injured in the incident.

However, during a press briefing at the burn institute around 3:30pm, Health Adviser Nurjahan Begum stated that the official death toll stood at 29.

Asked about the discrepancy, Prof Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to the chief adviser for the health ministry, said the ISPR had reported 16 deaths at CMH, but the ministry had confirmed 15.

He also mentioned confusion regarding a reported death at Uttara Adhunik Medical College Hospital.

"We are in talks with the ISPR and hope to resolve the confusion soon," he added.

Later, the health ministry released a revised list based on updates until 5:00pm, putting the official death toll at 28.

According to the ministry's latest update around 10:30pm, the death toll remained unchanged.

As per the list, 15 died at CMH, 10 at the National Burn Institute, and one each at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Lubana General Hospital and Cardiac Centre, and United Hospital.

Clarifying the change, a ministry official said earlier reports had mentioned two deaths at Lubana Hospital. "However, one of them, Omaiya Nur Ashfiq, was actually brought to United Hospital. As a result, the death toll at Lubana decreased by one," he said, requesting anonymity.

Among the 28 deceased, the identities of seven have yet to be confirmed, and efforts are underway to identify them. Sixty-eight victims were receiving treatment at five hospitals, including 42 at the National Burn Institute and 23 at CMH, he said.

Prof Sayedur said the condition of 10 patients at the burn institute was critical. Of the 28 confirmed dead, 25 were children, two were teachers of the school, and one was the pilot, he added.

CRY, WAIT AT BURN INSTITUTE

Unlike Monday, when hundreds of people disrupted services at the 500-bed hospital, authorities allowed only patients, their relatives, and hospital staff inside the hospital yesterday.

Army men were seen guarding the entrance to the hospital.

One of our correspondents, allowed into the hospital, witnessed harrowing scenes as distraught families waited outside the ICU for news of their loved ones.

"Any news of Makin?" Saleha Naznin repeatedly asked her husband, Mohammad Mohsin, each time someone emerged from the ICU.

Her son, Abdur Musabbir Makin, a class 7 student, suffered severe burns.

"Please, bring my Makin to me," she kept repeating, as her son fought for his life inside.

Mohsin said his youngest son stayed back for an extra class after official school hours ended at 1:00pm.

"He's not well. He's on ventilation," he said, fighting back tears.

Asked if he spoke to Makin, Mohsin said, "When I saw him, he said, 'Abbu, take me away from here.' That's all. I just want to take my son home, healthy."

Outside the ICU, Abdur Rahim, a fish trader from Abdullahpur, waited for updates on his only daughter, Samia Akter, a fourth-grader at Milestone.

He said Samia was on the second floor of the school building when the plane hit it. Panicked, as the students were trying to escape the building, Samia fell on the floor and was trampled.

While Saleha and Rahim knew their loved ones were in the ICU, others were still searching in anguish.

Outside the morgue of the institute, Aminul Islam Jony was desperately looking for his wife, Lamia Akter Sonia. She had gone to the school to pick up their daughter Zaira, a third-grader.

"I found my daughter crying at the site with the help of a stranger," Jony said. "But I haven't found my wife. Please, help me find her."

He said he had searched hospitals across Uttara and even the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), but in vain.

"No one has seen her," he said. "All we've found is a burnt copy of her NID card circulating on social media."