A passenger jet has crashed in Kazakhstan, killing at least 12 people but leaving dozens of survivors. The Bek Airplane was flying from Almaty – Kazakhstan’s largest city – to the capital Nur-Sultan when it smashed into a building just after take-off.
A Reuters news agency reporter close to the scene said there was heavy fog at the time. The interior ministry initially said 15 people had been killed, but it later published a list of victims that mentioned only 12 dead.The Fokker 100 plane was carrying 95 passengers – including 8 children – as well as five crew, the interior ministry said. The Flightradar24 website said the flight departed at 01:21 GMT, and “the last signal was received in that same minute”.
The airport said the plane lost height at 07:22 local time (01:22 GMT), before striking a concrete barrier and crashing into a two-story building. There was no fire upon impact. Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar said the plane’s tail had scraped the runway twice during take-off, leaving marks.One survivor, businessman Aslan Nazaraliyev, told the BBC that the plane had begun vibrating violently. People screamed and the aircraft smashed into the ground.
