Bek Air flight 2100, a Fokker 100, crashed into a building during takeoff from Almaty Airport, Kazakhstan.
The Fokker 100 plane was carrying 95 passengers – including eight children – as well as five crew, the interior ministry said.
The Flightradar24 information 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.
The aircraft broke up. There was no fire.
The aircraft came to rest about 680 m past the paved end of runway 05R and about 100 meters to the right of the extended centreline.
🇰🇿 The domestic flight, operated by Bek Air, a Kazakhstan-based airline, was scheduled to fly from Almaty to the capital Nur-Sultan.
— air plus news (english) (@airplusnews_EN) December 27, 2019
There are conflicting reports on the number of occupants and the number of fatalities.
According to Aljazeera, at least 15 people have died in the crash. A total of 54 people have been taken to hospital, with 10 in critical condition, authorities said.
Most of those on board were Kazakh citizens although Chinese, Kyrgyz and Ukrainian nationals were reportedly among the injured.
The captain has been confirmed as one of the fatalities.
A special commission will be set up to determine the cause of the crash.
Kazakhstan’s President Qasym-Jomart Toqayev has declared a day of national mourning on Friday.
He expressed his “deep condolences” to relatives and said “all those responsible will be severely punished in accordance with the law”.
