Photo claiming to show the list of deceased students is AI-generated
On social media, a photo is being shared claiming to show the list of students killed in the plane crash at the Milestone School and College building. The photo shows a total of 20 boys and girls wearing the school’s uniform. The same photo is being shared on Facebook, X, and YouTube with the same claim. But verification by Dismislab shows that the photo was created using artificial intelligence (AI) technology. In addition, the authorities of Milestone School and College also confirmed to Dismislab that the photo is fake.
On July 22, a Facebook post showed a photo of 20 students in school uniforms. The same photo was shared from multiple profiles (1, 2, 3, 4), pages, and groups on the platform. It also appeared on several channels on X and YouTube (1, 2, 3). A Facebook page named “Ajker Taja Khobor” shared the photo, and it has since been reposted more than 300 times. The post has received about 3,500 reactions and over 450 comments so far.
Analyzing the circulated photo shows that at the top, there is a circular logo. In the center of the logo, the text “2001” is written in English along with an open book symbol. Above it, there are some writings, but they do not form any meaningful words. Just below the logo, in large letters in both Bengali and English, it says, “মাইলস্টন কুল এন্ড কলেজ Milestone School & College.” Below this, there are stamp-sized photos of 20 students in the school uniform. At the very bottom, it says, “Deceased Students” — giving the message that this is the list of students from Milestone School and College who died in the plane crash in Uttara, Dhaka, on July 21.
Verification of the photo found it to be fake and AI-generated. Even with the naked eye, several inconsistencies can be detected. First, the spelling of the school’s name in Bengali is wrong. In the English part, “Milestone School & College” is correct, but in Bengali, “মাইলস্টোন” was wrongly written as “মাইলস্টন.” Similarly, the spelling of “School” was distorted to “কুল (Cool) .” In addition, the logo on the top does not match the actual logo of Milestone School and College. The design and structure of the circulated logo are different, and the words written inside are distorted, carrying no meaning.
Among the faces of the students shown in the list of the deceased, there are also unrealistic similarities. Almost every student’s face looks the same — the arrangement of facial features, the shape of lips, and the structure of the nose are all identical. Such facial repetition is usually seen in AI-generated photos.
To be more certain about the photo, when Milestone School and College’s head teacher, Mrs. Khadija Akhter, and coordinator, Mrs. Lutfunnesa Lopa, were contacted, they said that no such list has been published by the institution. They also confirmed that “the photo is fake.” The school’s coordinator told Dismislab, “This is not a list of our students’ photos.” No such list has been published on the school’s official Facebook page or website either.
Additionally, to verify whether the list of deceased students in the plane crash was AI-generated, the photo was checked separately using the tools ‘Illuminarty’ and ‘AIorNot.’ Both tools showed that the photo is most likely AI-generated.
On July 21, a Bangladesh Air Force training fighter plane crashed into a building of Milestone School and College in Uttara, Dhaka. In this incident, the death toll has so far reached 31. Another 165 injured are receiving treatment in different hospitals. To prepare an accurate list with addresses of the injured, deceased, and missing students and guardians in the incident, the Milestone authorities formed a six-member committee with Principal Mohammad Ziaul Alam as the head.
Already, several AI-generated images have spread on social media regarding the training fighter plane crash. On the day of the incident, several AI-generated images of the crashed plane spread, and Dismislab published a face-check report on that issue.
