Milestone Tragedy reveals critical failures in disaster preparedness: Roundtable

City Desk :

Speakers at a roundtable have said that the tragic crash of a Bangladesh Air Force jet at Milestone School and College in Uttara has exposed alarming weaknesses in the country’s disaster management system.

The roundtable titled “Aviation Emergencies and Civil Risk: Rethinking Disaster Preparedness in Bangladesh”, held in the capital on Thursday, says states UNB.

The roundtable, organised by The Bangladesh Monitor and hosted by Sheraton Dhaka, brought together aviation experts, former military officials, urban planners, and healthcare professionals, all calling for urgent reform in Bangladesh’s aviation emergency response system following the devastating July 2024 crash that claimed the lives of 35 students and teachers, leaving over 100 others injured, many with severe burns.

In his keynote address, Kazi Wahidul Alam, Editor of The Bangladesh Monitor, said: “On that fateful morning, an F-7 fighter jet crash-landed onto the Milestone School premises, turning a space of learning into a scene of horror. Children who had been reciting poems moments earlier were thrust into a catastrophe they were never prepared for. This was not a warzone; it was a classroom.”

He added, “This tragedy compels us morally and professionally to ask: Could this have been prevented? And more importantly, were we prepared to manage its aftermath?”
Systemic failures are exposed. Mainly there was no central command to lead or coordinate emergency efforts at the crash site. Victims, including small children with severe burn injuries, were seen wandering helplessly on the streets, with no immediate medical assistance or shelter provided. In scenes that shocked the nation, parents were forced to carry their burned children on rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, and even by foot desperately searching for medical care. No public ambulance service arrived at the scene in a timely manner; only a handful of commercial ambulances were seen responding.