China dispatches medical team of burn specialists to Bangladesh following air force jet crash

At the request of the Bangladeshi government, China has dispatched a medical team of five burn specialists, who are scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on Thursday evening, the Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh said on Thursday after a Bangladesh air force training aircraft crashed into a school in the nation's capital on Monday.

Specialists will then proceed to Bangladesh's National Institute of Burns and Plastic Surgery to assist in treating severely injured patients, according to the embassy.

A Bangladesh air force training jet crashed into a college and school campus in the capital Dhaka on Monday after experiencing a technical problem shortly after take-off, Reuters reported.

On Wednesday, the death toll from the crash rose to 32, including at least 29 students and two teachers who died from burns, and the pilot on his first solo flight. Officials said 171 people, mostly students at Milestone School and College and many with burns, were rescued as the jet crashed into a two-story building, AP News reported.

On Thursday morning, at the request of Bangladesh and under the guidance of the Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh, Southwest China's Yunnan Province urgently organized a team of experts from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University to conduct a remote video consultation with the Bangladesh's National Institute of Burns and Plastic Surgery. 

Chinese experts in burn treatment, plastic surgery, pediatric nephrology, and pediatric respiratory medicine, together with Bangladeshi doctors, analyzed the conditions of several critically injured patients from the recent military aircraft crash and jointly discussed treatment plans, the embassy said Thursday.

Liu Jinsong, director general of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, visited the Embassy of Bangladesh in China on Thursday to mourn the victims of the crash. He signed the condolence book on behalf of the Chinese side, expressing profound condolences to the victims and sincere sympathies to the bereaved families and the injured, wishing the wounded a swift recovery.

Liu added that China and Bangladesh can also strengthen cooperation in areas such as emergency rescue, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.