Staff Reporter:
The government overnight formed a nine-member commission headed by former secretary AKM Zafar Ullah Khan to investigate the air force fighter training jet crash on Milestone School and College at Ut-tara last week.
According to a Cabinet Division gazette the commission was asked to submit its report in next four weeks while it was tasked examine the cause of the crash, assess damage and casualties and determine the responsibilities.
It said the commission, formed on Sunday night, was empowered to visit any location within Bangladesh and summon and question any individual.
The commission comprised a retired air vice marshal, three additional secretaries from three ministries, Dhaka’s divisional commissioner, an urban planner, and a professor of mechanical engineering depart-ment of BUET.
The notification said as part of its tasks, the commission would review the construction of the Milestone School and College and other structures near the airport.
It would simultaneously assess the legal and administrative aspects concerning the location and safety of the flying zone and make recommendations to prevent such accidents in future.
The commission will assess the overall loss of lives and injuries suffered by the students, teachers, and others and determine the extent of all damages.
The Commission will also make suggestions regarding the operation of training aircraft, construction of buildings in flying zones, and emergency response protocols during catastrophic events.
It will carry on its investigation under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1956 and the office of the divi-sional commissioner of Dhaka will provide secretarial support to the commission.
According the Ministry of Health and family welfare, at least 34 persons, mostly students, died after the jet smashed into a two-storey building of the Milestone School and College on July 21.
