San Francisco Frontiers - Anguish at Bangladesh hospital after jet hits school

In Bangladesh's deadliest aviation accident in decades, a training aircraft of the Bangladesh Air Force crashed into a school campus in the northwestern part of its bustling capital Dhaka.

Grief hung heavy over the National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute, where many of the more than 150 injured were rushed for treatment.

Tofazzal Hossain, 30, broke down in tears on learning that his young cousin had been killed.

"We frantically searched for my cousin in different hospitals," Hossain told AFP.

"He was an eighth grader. Finally, we found his body."

The Chinese-made F-7 BJI aircraft crashed moments after students were let out of class at 1:00 pm (0700 GMT) at the Milestone School and College.

The well-known private school offers education to kindergarten children as well as senior secondary students.

"We have two playgrounds, one for the senior students and one for the juniors," said Shafiur Rahman Shafi, 18, who is enrolled at the school.

"We were on the playground for the seniors. There were two fighter planes... Suddenly one of the two planes crashed here (in the junior playground)," he told AFP.

"It created a boom, and it felt like a quake. Then it caught fire, and the army reached the spot later."

- 'Helping the children' -

The Dhaka hospital's joint director, Mohammad Maruf Islam, said most of the injured were aged between eight and 14.

Of the 51 brought to the facility, at least 20 were critically hurt, he said.

Monsur Helal, 46, waited grimly as his wife Mahrin -- a coordinator in the school -- lay unconscious on life support.

"Mahrin was helping the children out of the classroom when the plane suddenly crashed near her," he said.

"She was able to speak with me briefly, but now she is unresponsive."

Outside the hospital's intensive care unit, grieving and tearful mothers comforted one another, sharing harrowing stories of how they found their children.

Dozens of volunteers lined up at the hospital, ready to donate blood.

The interim government led by Muhammad Yunus announced a day of national mourning on Tuesday.

The crash was the worst aviation accident in the country in several decades.

The deadliest ever disaster happened in 1984 when a plane flying from Chattogram to Dhaka crashed, killing all 49 on board.

N.Wilson--SFF