Move FM Global News

ALMATY, Kazakhstan – A plane with 98 people on board has crashed into a two-storey building in the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan.

The crash, near the city of Almaty’s international airport, occurred on Friday morning around 7:22am.

All available ambulances in the area, forty of them, were dispatched to the scene.

At least 15 people are now confirmed dead, and twelve (eight adults and 4 children) injured.

The plane was carrying ninety-three passengers, and had a crew of 5.

Operating under Flight Z2100 by the Kazakh domestic carrier Bek Air, the plane had taken off from Almaty International Airport, and was destined for Kazakhstan’s capital Nur-Sultan.

Local aviation authorities said the plane, a Sun Fokker 100, one of nine such aircraft operated by Bek Air, took off but lost altitude nineteen seconds after. By this point it had travelled around 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the airport. It then crashed through a concrete fence after which it collided with a two-storey building. The plane was captained by Muratbaev Marat Ganievich, aged 58.

The Kazahstan Internal Affairs Ministry confirmed to local media that fourteen people had been confirmed dead.

The Civil Aviation Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan said it had placed the cause and circumstances of the crash under investigation.

The prime minister of the republic of Kazakhstan is heading the government commission. The commission includes Deputy Prime Minister, minister of industry and infrastructure development of the republic of Kazakhstan, and representatives of other state bodies.

In the meantime the ministry says it has suspended Bek Air’s operator’s certificate until more details are to hand. The certificate had only been renewed last month.

(Photo credit: CNN screenshot).