The plane was heading for the capital, Nur-Sultan, and "lost altitude during takeoff and broke through a concrete fence" before hitting a small building.
Emergency and security personnel are seen at the site of a plane crash near Almaty, Kazakhstan (REUTERS/Pavel Mikheyev)
Almaty: A Bek Air plane with 95 passengers and five crew members on board crashed near the city of Almaty in Kazakhstan on Friday, killing at least 14 people, while 35 others survived with injuries, authorities in the Central Asian country said.
The Fokker 100 aircraft was heading for the capital, Nur-Sultan, and “lost altitude during takeoff and broke through a concrete fence” before hitting a two-storey building, Kazakhstan’s Civil Aviation Committee said in a statement.
The Fokker 100 aircraft was heading for the capital, Nur-Sultan, and “lost altitude during takeoff and broke through a concrete fence” (REUTERS/Pavel Mikheyev)
According to the Emergencies Committee, at least 14 people were killed. The government and Almaty airport said emergency services were working at the site to get survivors out. A Reuters reporter travelling to the airport said there was thick fog in the area. In a statement on its Facebook page, the airport said there was no fire and a rescue operation got underway immediately following the crash.
Photographs from the crash site published by media showed the damaged plane with large cracks in its body next to a house half-demolished by the impact.
Photographs from the crash site published by media showed the damaged plane with large cracks in its body (REUTERS/Pavel Mikheyev)
Kazakh carrier Bek Air, which operates a fleet of Fokker 100 jets, could not be immediately reached for comment. The aviation committee said it was suspending all flights of that type of aircraft pending an investigation.
“Those responsible will face tough punishment in accordance with the law,” Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev tweeted, expressing condolences to the victims and their families.
The aircraft identified as a Fokker-100, is a medium-sized, twin-turbofan jet airliner. The company manufacturing the aircraft went bankrupt in 1996 and the production of the Fokker-100 stopped the following year. All Bek Air and Fokker-100 flights in Kazakhstan have been suspended pending the investigation of the crash, the country’s authorities said.
- Reuters, AP