Staff ReporterA 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 seven people, aviation authorities in the Central Asian nation said.
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, Kazakhstan’s Civil Aviation Committee said in a statement.
There was no fire but the airport published a list of 60 people who it said were receiving medical care.
More than 30 victims were taken to various hospitals with injuries described by the airport as extremely severe.
Eight children, all said to be conscious, are also being treated in hospital.
A survivor told news website Tengrinews that she had heard a “terrifying sound” before the plane started losing altitude.
She added: “The plane was flying with a tilt.
“Everything was like in a movie: screaming, shouting, people crying.”
The crash site in Almerek village, which lies just beyond the runway, has been cordoned off. The building hit by the plane is believed to be a house.
The Fokker-100 is a medium-sized plane which ceased production in 1997, a year after its manufacturers went bankrupt.
According to Flight Radar 24, the plane that crashed was 23 years old.
Kazakhstan’s aviation committee has suspended all flights by the aircraft type as it investigates the crash.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expressed condolences to the victims and their families, adding: “Those responsible will face tough punishment in accordance with the law.”
