BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday met the bereaved family members of Flight Lieutenant Towkir Islam, who died in the Air Force jet crash into Milestone School and College, and conveyed condolences on behalf of the party and its top leadership.
Fakhrul went to the Officers’ Mess of the Bangladesh Air Force in Dhaka Cantonment around 4pm, where Towkir’s wife Aksa Hossain Nizhum and other family members, including his father and mother, were present.
He spoke with Towkir’s father Tahurul Islam, mother Saleha Khatun, wife Nizhum and other relatives.
During the meeting, Fakhrul conveyed heartfelt condolences from BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and expressed deep sympathy to the grieving family.
He also assured the family of the party’s full support and solidarity during this difficult time.
Fakhrul was accompanied by senior retired military officials affiliated with the party, including BNP Vice Chairman and former Air Force Chief Air Vice Marshal (retd) Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, former Air Chief Air Vice Marshal (retd) Fakhrul Azam, Chairperson's adviser Major General (retd) Fazle Elahi Akbar, Brig Gen (retd) AKM Shamsul Islam Shams and Colonel (retd) Shamsuzzaman Khan.
Several senior officials of the Bangladesh Air Force were also present during the visit.
Flight Lieutenant Towkir Islam, a skilled pilot, lost his life when a BAF training aircraft crashed on Monday on the campus of Milestone School and College in Uttara.
He was later buried in his native village of Supura in Rajshahi.
Towkir, also known as Sagar, studied up to class seven at Rajshahi Laboratory School and College. He later attended Pabna Cadet College and joined the Bangladesh Air Force in 2017.
Fakhrul meets 5 families of Milestone plane crash victims, offers condolences
Just a year ago, he married Nizhum, a lecturer at BRAC University.
Separate visits by BNP leaders to other victims' families.
Earlier in the day, BNP Joint Secretary General Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie visited the grave of schoolteacher Masuka Begum Nipu in Sohagpur village of Ashuganj, Brahmanbaria. She died while trying to save students during the tragic crash.
Annie laid floral wreaths at her grave and offered fateha at there and prayed for her departed soul.
He also met Masuka’s family members to convey condolences on behalf of the BNP leadership.
Meanwhile, a BNP delegation led by Afroza Abbas, President of Jatiyatabadi Mahila Dal, visited the grave of teacher Meherin Chowdhury in Bugulagari village of Nilphamari’s Jaldhaka upazila.
Meherin died while rescuing students trapped inside a classroom. Afroza offered floral tributes and expressed sympathy to the family on behalf of Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman.
Leaders from Mahila Dal units in Nilphamari and Lalmonirhat were also present during the visit.
BNP Standing Committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy visited the family of Nusrat Jahan Anika, a third-grade student who was killed in the same Air Force jet crash at Milestone School and College in Uttara.
He visited Nusrat’s home in the capital’s Diabari area and expressed sympathy to the grieving family on behalf of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman.
BNP Standing Committee members Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, AZ Zahid Hossain, Vice Chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu, and Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi also visited the homes of several crash victims and conveyed condolences on behalf of the party and its top leadership.