Milestone Tragedy: DNA tests lower death toll to 33

Staff Reporter :

The official death toll from the fighter jet crash at Dhaka’s Milestone School and College has been revised to 33, following updated identification data and DNA analysis.

Authorities initially reported 35 fatalities after two more patients succumbed to their injuries at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery on Saturday. However, the Ministry of Health amended the figure on Sunday morning after the final identification of victims.

According to a post from the health ministry’s official Facebook page, the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka received 15 body bags on the day of the crash. Turag police later conducted inquests on 11 complete bodies, two partial bodies, and body parts from five others.

Of the full bodies, nine were positively identified – eight were handed over to families on 21 July, and the remaining one on 22 July.

On 22 July, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) forensic
team collected DNA samples from the two unidentified complete bodies, two partial bodies, and the remains from five others. DNA analysis subsequently confirmed the identities of five more individuals.

A senior health ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the CMH had initially recorded six unidentified victims. However, the DNA results revealed that only five were unidentifiable at the time, prompting the hospital to revise its tally from 15 to 14.

This led the health ministry to reduce the total death toll from 35 to 34. A further revision was made after it was confirmed that the previously unidentified deceased reported by Lubana Hospital and a patient who died at United Hospital were in fact the same person.

With this clarification, the final official death toll now stands at 33.
Meanwhile, 48 injured victims remain under treatment at various hospitals.