Milestone tragedy: Death toll 34 as another student dies

Another student who sustained severe burns in the July 21 jet crash at Milestone School and College in the capital's Uttara died early yesterday.

Meanwhile, the government has formed a high-power commission to probe the crash and make recommendations to prevent such incidents in the future.

Shaheel Faravi Ayan, 14, a seventh grader, passed away around 1:45am at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, said Shawon Bin Rahman, a resident surgeon at the institute.

"He had 40 percent of his body burnt," he said.

The number of crash deaths at the institute has risen to 18.

The health ministry on Sunday revised the official death toll twice within six and a half hours, eventually confirming 33 deaths.

With Ayan's death, the death toll is now 34.

Thirty-three survivors, including 27 children, are currently undergoing treatment at the burn institute. Three of them remain in critical condition and one of them was put on life support.

The nine-member probe body, led by former secretary AKM Zafar Ullah Khan, has been asked to submit its report on the aircraft crash within four weeks, according to a Cabinet Division gazette issued on Sunday night.

The other members are a retired air-vice marshal, three additional secretaries from three ministries, Dhaka divisional commissioner, an urban planner, a professor of Buet's mechanical engineering department, and a lawyer.

The commission will examine the cause of the tragic crash, assess damage, and find out who is responsible, it added.

According to a gazette, it will assess the loss of lives and injuries suffered by students, teachers, and others, and determine the extent of all damage.

Additionally, it will review the construction of Milestone School, other structures near the airport, and examine the legal and administrative aspects concerning the location and safety of the flying zone.

It will also make suggestions regarding the operation of training aircraft, the construction of buildings in flying zones, and emergency response protocols during terrible incidents.

The commission has been empowered to visit any location within Bangladesh and summon and question any individual.

It will carry out its investigation under the Commissions of Inquiry Act- 1956 and the office of the divisional commissioner of Dhaka will provide secretarial support to the commission.