Mother’s search for missing daughter ends with burnt school bag

Four days after a training plane crashed onto the grounds of Milestone School and College in Uttara, the fate of third-grade student Mariam Umme Afia remains unknown. Her mother, Tamima Umme, rushed to the school in search of her missing daughter but had to return clutching only Afia’s burnt school bag.

On Thursday morning (24 July), Tamima arrived at the school with relatives and waited anxiously for over an hour. She left in tears around noon, visibly devastated. Relatives were seen carrying the charred school bag, a painful reminder of the tragic incident.

Afia’s uncle, Sabbir, said the family is struggling to cope with the loss. “My sister is nearly broken by grief and is too ill to speak,” he said. The family lives in Chandolbhog, Turag.

Following the crash, Milestone School and College set up a help desk to assist families with information on the injured, deceased, and missing. Tamima visited the desk to report her missing daughter.

The accident occurred on Monday at 1:06 PM, when a training aircraft taking off from Tejgaon Air Base crashed on the school premises. So far, 31 people have been confirmed dead, and 164 others injured in the tragedy.