Conflicting reports continue to emerge over the exact number of fatalities in the Uttara fighter jet crash that struck Milestone College in Dhaka.
On Tuesday afternoon, Health Adviser Nurjahan Begum visited the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery to see the injured and informed reporters that 29 people had died in the incident.
She stated, “On Monday, I went to Bangladesh Eye Hospital for my eye surgery. Later, I heard about the crash and rushed to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), where I learned that 11 bodies had been brought in. Seventeen others had been admitted with injuries. Two people, including the pilot, were declared dead there.”
However, earlier the same day, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Directorate issued a statement reporting that the death toll had reached 31. It added that 165 people were receiving treatment at various hospitals.
Even earlier that morning, Professor Dr Md Sayedur Rahman, Special Health Assistant to the Chief Adviser, said that 27 people had died, with 78 injured and undergoing treatment in different hospitals.
This means that three separate government-linked sources gave different figures for the same day: 27, 29, and 31 deaths, and either 78 or 165 injured.
On Wednesday (July 23), the official Facebook page of the Chief Adviser reiterated Monday’s figure of 29 deaths. However, it revised the number of injured, now reporting that 68 people are receiving treatment in hospitals across Dhaka — down from Tuesday’s figure of 78.
Meanwhile, multiple media outlets reported on Wednesday that another student succumbed to injuries while under treatment, pushing the death toll up to 32, based on prior figures of 31.
