Staff Reporter:
Two more people, including a child, died from burn injuries on Saturday morning following the BAF training jet crash on Milestone School and College in the capital’s Uttara, raising the death toll to 35.
The deceased were identified as Zarif Farhan, 13, a seventh-grade student of the Milestone School’s Eng-lish version section, and Masuma (38), an ayah (support staff) of the school.
Zarif succumbed to his burn injuries at 9:10am yesterday while Masuma died one hour later at 10:15am in the morning at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery (NIBPS) here.
Residential Surgeon of the institute Dr Shawon Bin Rahman said that Zarif had sustained 40 percent burns, while Masuma suffered 90 percent burns.
Zarif’s father Md Habibur Rahman said his son was the younger of two siblings. Habibur is originally from Rajbari Sadar upazila and now lives in Sector-12 of Uttara.
Md Selim, husband of Masuma, said she had been working at the school for several years. The couple has a son and a daughter. They are originally from Borhanuddin upazila in Bhola and currently reside in the Shukravanga area of Nayanagar under Turag.
With the latest deaths, 17 victims have died at the NIBPS, one at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), 15 at Combined Military Hospital (CMH), and one at Shaheed Monsur Ali Medical College Hospital.
Director of the institute Prof Dr Nasir Uddin said at a press briefing on Friday afternoon that they would begin discharging four to five victims of the jet crash as their condition had improved significantly.
Currently, 38 burn victims of the crash are undergoing treatment at the burn institute. Among them, three are in critical condition and are being treated in the ICU of the facility.
The tragic incident occurred on Monday when an FT-7 fighter jet of the Bangladesh Air Force crashed into a two-storey building of Milestone School and College in Uttara shortly after takeoff around 1:00pm, reportedly due to a mechanical failure.
The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Towkir Islam, lost his life in the crash.
