DHAKA: The death toll has risen to 27 after a Bangladesh Air Force jet crashed into Milestone School and College in Dhaka on Monday, in the country’s deadliest air disaster in recent memory.

Most of the victims were schoolchildren attending afternoon classes when the jet struck the two-story campus in the Diabari neighborhood around 1:18 p.m. local time.

According to the Bangladesh Armed Forces, 171 others were injured in the crash, with 78 people—primarily students—currently receiving treatment in hospitals across the capital.

The BAF F7 fighter jet reportedly suffered a mechanical failure shortly before the crash. Officials say the pilot, who was among those killed, made every effort to steer the plane away from densely populated areas.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare confirmed that 25 of the dead were children. Emergency responders and military personnel were seen working to extinguish the blaze and recover victims from the wreckage.

Authorities have launched a formal investigation into the cause of the crash.