14 killed as passenger plane carrying 100 crashes in Kazakhstan

Aircraft collides with fence and two-story structure shortly after takeoff from Almaty airport

By Agencies 27 December 2019, 6:54 am

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In this handout photo provided by the Emergency Situations Ministry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, police and rescuers work on the side of a plane crash near Almaty International Airport, outside Almaty, Kazakhstan, Friday, Dec. 27, 2019. ( Emergency Situations Ministry of the Republic of Kazakhstan photo via AP)

Fourteen people died Friday when a passenger plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Almaty airport in Kazakhstan, the government said.

The Bek Air aircraft had 100 passengers and crew abroad, and hit a concrete fence and a two-story building shortly after takeoff.

The airport said the plane lost attitude at 7:22 a.m. (0122 GMT).

In a statement on its Facebook page, the airport said there was no fire and a rescue operation got underway immediately following the crash.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pledged to provide families of the victims with compensation and tweeted that those responsible “will be severely punished in accordance with the law.”

Tokayev also said that a government commission had been set up to investigate the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.

The plane was flying to Nur-Sultan, the country’s capital formerly known as Astana.

The aircraft was identified as a Fokker-100, a medium-sized, twin-turbofan jet airliner. The company manufacturing the aircraft went bankrupt in 1996 and the production of the Fokker-100 stopped the following year.