‘No compensation can make up for the loss of a child, we want justice’

“I held my healthy son by the hand and dropped him off at school in the morning. At lunchtime, I took him egg curry and rice. I don't even know whether he managed to eat it. A day later, I returned home from the hospital with his body. He was burned so badly that his face was unrecognisable. I kept saying, 'Look at your mother, call me just once.' But he never looked at me, never called out.”

An emotional Bithi Akter recalled her son, Borhan Uddin Bappi, in these words. Borhan was a class-III student at the Diabari campus of Milestone School and College in Uttara, Dhaka.

On 21 July last year, a Bangladesh Air Force fighter jet crashed into the campus. Borhan suffered severe burns in the incident and died early the following morning at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in the capital.

Today, Monday, marks the first anniversary of the tragedy.

Ahead of the anniversary, Prothom Alo spoke to family members of several students who were killed or injured in the crash. They all demanded a fair investigation and justice. They also called for continued medical treatment and rehabilitation for those who were injured.

The families said they want the state to provide appropriate compensation through the legal process. However, they expressed frustration and disappointment, saying they had seen no sign of any such measures over the past year.

The fighter jet crash claimed the lives of 35 people, including 28 students, three teachers, three parents and one school attendant. Flight Lieutenant Md Towkir Islam, the pilot of the aircraft, also lost his life in the crash. Following the accident, 80 people received treatment at various hospitals, while 57 were admitted to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.

Borhan was buried in the family graveyard in the Tarartek Mosque area, close to Milestone School and College in Diabari. Also laid to rest there were Mahid Hasan Arian, a class-IV student, and Omair Noor Asfi, a class-III student from the same school, who also died in the crash. The three children were close relatives.

Bithi Akter said Borhan's younger brother, Hazrat Belal Uddin Bijoy, had been a playgroup student at the same campus. The memories of her elder son continue to haunt the family, so they decided to enrol the younger boy at a different school.

Tahia Ashraf Nazia was a class-VI student at the school, while Arian Ashraf Nafi studied in class-III. Nazia died on 22 July and Nafi on 23 July following the crash. They were brother and sister. Their father, Ashraful Islam, said 90 per cent of Nazia's body had been burned, while Nafi suffered burns over almost his entire body.

Class-VII student Navid Nawaz Deepto spent 97 days receiving treatment at the National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute after suffering severe burn injuries. He remained on life support for the first 10 days following his admission before being treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), High Dependency Unit (HDU) and later in a cabin.

During his treatment, Deepto underwent 36 surgeries, including eight skin graft procedures. He returned home on 27 October last year but still requires regular hospital visits.

Rupi Barua Roya, a class-V student at the time of the crash, spent three months in the Burn Institute. Her fingers have fused together because of the burns. She is now in class-VI at Milestone, but is unable to attend school and is instead taught at home by a private tutor.

On the day of the accident, Rupi did not want to go to school, but her parents insisted that she attend. Since then, she has harboured deep resentment towards them.

Alongside ongoing physical treatment, Rupi is also receiving psychological care. Her elder sister, Eka Barua, told Prothom Alo, “This accident has devastated our entire family. I completed my honours degree, but I haven't been able to continue my studies or start a job because I have to stay by my sister’s side. She cannot even go to the bathroom on her own.”

“At the time of the accident, our other sister was taking her HSC examinations. She still hasn't been able to enrol anywhere. Also, there is the medical expense of Rupi’s treatment. Who is going to take responsibility for all of this?” she asked.

Following the crash, the interim government at the time formed a nine-member investigation commission on 27 July last year. The commission was tasked with identifying the circumstances surrounding the fighter jet crash, its causes, responsibility and liability, the extent of the damage, and other related issues.

Three months after the incident, on 5 November last year, the commission submitted its report to the then Chief Adviser of the interim government, Professor Muhammad Yunus.

Later, at a press conference held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka, the then chief adviser’s press secretary, Shafiqul Alam, presented some of the report’s findings and recommendations. He said the commission had interviewed 150 people, uncovered 168 pieces of information and made 33 recommendations.

Citing the investigation report, the press conference stated that the primary cause of the crash was pilot error during take-off. It also found that the Milestone School building had not been approved in accordance with the RAJUK building code. Under the code, the building should have had at least three staircases, but it had only one. The report said that, had there been three staircases, the number of casualties would likely have been lower.

The commission’s principal recommendation was that, in the interest of public safety, all primary flight training conducted by the Air Force should be moved outside Dhaka.

In February this year, a writ petition was filed with the High Court questioning the authorities’ failure to publish the investigation report in the media and their inaction regarding steps against those responsible for approving the construction of the educational institution’s Uttara campus without complying with the National Building Code.

The petition was filed by the parents of eight deceased students and one injured student, along with the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST). Barrister Amirul Haque represented the petitioners before the court.

On 8 March this year, the High Court issued a rule asking why the authorities' failure to publish the investigation commission's report in the media and provide copies to the victims should not be declared unlawful. The court also sought an explanation as to why the authorities' failure to provide adequate compensation to the families of those killed and injured in the crash should not be declared beyond their legal authority.

Earlier, another writ petition had been filed with the High Court over the same incident. Supreme Court lawyer Md Anisur Rahman Raihan submitted the petition on 22 July 2025. In response, the High Court issued a rule along with several directives. Eleven members of the affected families later became parties to the case.

Kafi Ahmed Taif, a class-five student, was admitted to the Burn Institute for 70 days. He is still unable to clench his hand properly, and his face was severely burned. Kafi's father, Meraj Ahmed, is one of the petitioners in the writ case.

Meraj told Prothom Alo that although his son's hospital treatment was covered by the government, patients with such injuries still had to buy food and some medicines themselves, costing the family several hundred thousand taka. His son still requires follow-up treatment. While he has returned to school and is studying free of charge, he remains deeply traumatised and struggles to accept the changes to his appearance.

The father asked, “Who is responsible for this accident? What future awaits these injured children?”

Lawyer Amirul Haque told Prothom Alo that two writ petitions related to the incident are currently awaiting hearings before the High Court.

On 25 July last year, the Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP) published an investigative report titled Aircraft Crash at Milestone School: State Responsibility and Required Measures for Public Safety and Development Control.

The report said that although Milestone School and College was technically a legally established institution, it was located within the approach zone of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. It recommended relocating schools, colleges, madrasas and other institutions that attract large gatherings of people from the airport's approach area.

Milestone School and College is a private educational institution under the Secondary and Higher Education Division of the Ministry of Education. In a letter issued on 3 June, the division said the Finance Division had decided to provide a one-off compensation of Tk 2 million to the family of each person killed in the incident and Tk 500,000 to the family of each injured victim.

The school authorities were instructed through three separate letters to inform the affected families of the decision. According to the school authorities, parents said the announced compensation was inadequate compared with the victims' actual needs and should be reconsidered.

The 3 June letter from the Secondary and Higher Education Division also stated that 25 June 2026 was the deadline for disbursing the allocated funds. If the money was not released by then, it would automatically be returned to the government treasury, after which it could no longer be disbursed.

Retired Colonel Nurn Nabi, adviser to Milestone School and College, told Prothom Alo that, apart from a few students who were seriously injured, the rest had returned to school.

Teachers are being sent to the homes of those still unable to attend classes, and all of them are continuing their education free of charge. A physiotherapy centre has also been arranged for the injured students, where they are receiving treatment at no cost, he said.

Journalist Leon Mir, the maternal uncle of Fatema Akter, a class-three student at the school who was killed in the crash, told Prothom Alo, “The families of those killed and injured have rejected this compensation. We do not want compensation. No amount of money can make up for the loss of a child. We want a fair trial. We want the institutions responsible to be held accountable through the legal process and fined accordingly.”