'Ma, Everybody is Dead...': 11-Year-Old Who Narrowly Escaped Dhaka Plane Crash
At least 31 people have died following the crash of a training fighter jet into a Dhaka school on Monday.
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(Trigger warning: Graphic details)
Ahmed Safwan, a student of class 5 studying in Dhaka's Milestone School and College, was eagerly awaiting the end of the last period, mathematics, on Monday, 21 July.
Once the bell rang at 1 pm, the 11-year-old ran out of his classroom with his friends and headed to an adjacent building to have his tiffin. After their meal, they were to head back to their classroom for a special coaching session – provided to young children at the school – before participating in some extracurricular activities and then heading back home at around 3 pm.
On the face of it, it seemed like any other day at school. Except it wasn't.
What the young boy saw moments later would leave him shell-shocked, unable to speak, and in a state of utter confusion.
It All Began With a Loud Sound
"Ekta jor e awaaz hoye chilo, dada (there was an extremely loud sound)," Ahmed said while speaking to this reporter, his voice trembling.
Not sure what had happened, the young boy and his friends came out of the building to a sight that would leave anybody in a traumatic state, let alone innocent children.
He then realised what had transpired: an aircraft had crashed into the building which once used to house his classroom and those of hundreds of other young students.
"I felt very scared. All the classrooms were filled with smoke," Ahmed said before handing the phone to his mother, Shahanaj, who went on to explain the horrors that her son witnessed.
"Our house is just 10 minutes away from the school by foot. Even from my home I was able to hear a loud noise, but I never expected that it was a plane... and that it had crashed into my son's school. All of us at home were discussing among ourselves what the sound was," she says.
'Don't Know How I Escaped'
Ahmed usually comes home from school at around 3:30 pm in a school bus. However, Shahanaj says that she was surprised to see her son at the door at 1:20 pm on Monday.
"The moment I opened the door, he flung himself towards me and said, Maa, shobai maara giyeche (Mom, everybody is dead)".
He then went on to tell her about the plane crash and everything that had transpired, weeping the entire time as he narrated the ordeal.
As his mother calmed him down, she asked him how he was able to escape.
A while later when he was able to collect himself, he explained to his mother what he did amid the panic.
"Ahmed saw his English teacher leaving through the gate, so he followed him, not knowing what else to do," Shahanaj told The Quint. "While running towards the gate, he saw one of the women helpers in the school, whom the children call khala, on the floor, her legs detached. He became extremely frightful and just ran home."
A few hours later, gathering his courage, Ahmed insisted that he wanted to go to the school as he was worried that his friends and teachers had died. While his mother initially resisted, she eventually agreed as her son wouldn't relent.
However, by the time they reached the school, emergency services and the Bangladeshi Armed Forces had already taken over rescue operations. Hence, they were not allowed inside to avoid crowding.
Shahanaj says that she has been corresponding with the parents of other children on a WhatsApp group to ensure that they are safe. "From what I have heard, most of the victims were from classes 3, 4, 7, and 8," she says.
Ahmed, meanwhile, said one his friends had sustained grievous injuries and was undergoing treatment.
"My friend from a different section is injured. I want to go and visit him, but I know it's not the right time. I hope I can see him again soon," he gathered the courage to tell The Quint over the phone.
Hostel Residents Lead Immediate Rescue Efforts
Among those who were lucky enough to escape unharmed like Ahmed were residents of the boys' hostel adjoining Milestone School and College – who led rescue efforts before emergency services arrived.
Galib and other hostel residents then headed to their balconies, from where they saw fire and smoke engulf the school premises.
View of the Milestone School and College from the boys' hostel.
(Photo: Galib/Accessed by The Quint)
Rushing downstairs, they found that the gate of their hostel had been blocked. To get to the other side, they broke a grill which formed a part of the wall separating the hostel and the school premises.
Running towards the school, however, Galib says that he stopped dead in his tracks.
"I saw the charred body of a child and a woman's body beside him. I wouldn't wish such a sight even on my worst enemy," he says.
Collecting himself, he proceeded towards the building which had suffered the maximum brunt of the jet's impact.
"Before emergency services arrived, we tried to bring some people out of the burning building. I think we were able to rescue 15-20 people. It's a site I'll never forget... their skin was burnt," he says.
There were others, however, that Galib and his friends were unable to save as the fire sparked by the aircraft's jet fuel was extremely fierce.
Tamim and Ekram – both residents of the boys' hostel – had just left the premises on a bike when the F7 fighter jet crashed into the school. They were barely two minutes outside the gate when the incident transpired.
Both Tamim and Ekram pitched in with the rescue efforts along with local scouts at the school. A little while later, emergency services arrived at the site.
"All of us are unharmed. Most of us were at the hostel as our exams are going on. A few others were outside the college premises. We didn't have any classes going on, so we got saved," Tamim tells The Quint.
While the HSC exam has been postponed and the college cordoned off, the hostel has been kept open upon the request of residents as most of them are from different parts of Bangladesh and have nowhere else to stay in Dhaka.
According to the latest bulletin published by officials, the death toll from the plane crash has climbed to 31 from 27 the previous day. Most of the deceased are children. Also, at least 165 people are undergoing treatment for injuries across different hospitals in the capital.