A plane carrying 98 people from Kazakhstan crashed into a building shortly after its takeoff on Friday morning, killing at least a dozen people and injuring over 50 more.
In a statement following the incident, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar said that the cause of the crash is still unclear but aviation authorities believe it was either a result of a pilot error or a technical failure.
According to officials airport officials, the Bek Air aircraft smashed into a concrete fence and a two-story building shortly after takeoff. The flight was scheduled to fly from Almaty, the country’s largest city, to the capital Nur-Sultan.
Plane crashes in Kazakhstan shortly after takeoff, at least 15 deadhttps://t.co/piuJBLNzwp pic.twitter.com/P0JY4rd5Hc
— Yeni Şafak English (@yenisafakEN) December 27, 2019
The flight was carrying 93 passengers and five crew members. At least a dozen people were killed on impact, including six children and the captain of the plane, while a further 50 were taken to the hospital. Of those receiving treatment, at least 17 were said to be in an “extremely serious condition.”
All Bek Air and Fokker 100 flights were suspended following the crash, while Kazakhstani President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared tomorrow a nationwide day of mourning.
#Kazakhstan President @TokayevKZ has declared December 28 a national day of mourning following the tragic death of twelve people after plane crash near #Almaty on Friday. #bekair #Z2100 pic.twitter.com/vnSz64Cou5
— Kazakh 🇿 Mission to UN (@Kazakh_Mission) December 27, 2019
Among the fatalities was Dana Kruglova, the executive editor of the website Informburo.kz, who took a last-minute decision to spend New Year with her family.
A baby has been carried from the wreckage of a plane crash in Kazakhstan, where at least 12 people have died.
The Bek Air plane was carrying 93 passengers and five crew members when it took off from the airport in Almaty.
Read more on this story here: https://t.co/q7TQKirIND pic.twitter.com/CdD3UrLxVE
— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 27, 2019
Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com.
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