12 killed, dozens injured after Bek Air passenger jet crashes upon take-off in Kazakhstan - UPDATES

RT
Fri, 27 Dec 2019 02:55 UTC

© Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry Emergency Committee

A Fokker 100 passenger jet belonging to Bek Air airline lost altitude and crashed into a two-story building during take-off from Almaty International Airport, local authorities have confirmed.

While there were "multiple survivors," 12 people were killed and dozens injured in the crash, many critically. Medics say 66 people were taken to the hospital after the crash, and a dozen of them are in grave condition.

Rescue personnel and medics continue to work at the scene in search of survivors.

© Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry Emergency Committee

There are at least eight children among those pulled from the rubble and rushed to the hospital, but it is still unknown if any minors were killed in the crash.

Bek Air Flight 2100, with up to 100 people on board, was heading for the capital, Nur-Sultan, but "lost altitude during takeoff and broke through a concrete fence" before hitting a small building, Kazakhstan's Civil Aviation Committee said.

Wreckage of the aircraft was seen amid the rubble of a brick house, surrounded by first responders, in photos shared on social media.

The aircraft was identified as a medium-sized, twin-turbofan Fokker-100 airliner. Kazakhstan aviation authorities immediately grounded all aircraft of this type and launched a probe into the incident.

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WATCH 1st VIDEOS from passenger jet crash site in Almaty, Kazakhstan

Rescuers and emergency personnel were seen working at the scene of the crash amid the wreckage of the aircraft and rubble of a brick house in multiple photos and videos shared on social media.

The local rescue service confirmed that there was nobody inside the building as it was under construction.

'It was like the movies, people were screaming and crying': Survivor describes harrowing plane crash

A passenger recalled her nightmarish journey aboard a Bek Air airliner in Kazakhstan, which struggled to gain altitude and flew at a "weird angle" before crashing into a building and killing 12 people on Friday.

The jet was scheduled to take off from the southern city of Almaty at 7:05am local time and travel to Nur-Sultan, the nation's capital, but the flight was "delayed" for unknown reasons, a passenger told Tengri News.

The woman, who was not named in the report, said she was asleep when the aircraft finally took off.

"I woke up when the plane began gaining altitude. As it turned out, the plane had been climbing two times already and had lost altitude [in both instances]."

She then heard "a loud sound coming either from the engine or somewhere else."

"The plane was flying at a weird angle. It was just like in the movies: people were howling, screaming, and crying. I can't describe how scary it was. Then there was a hit... Someone shouted, 'Get out!' I was speechless. I was seated near the wing, and remember how I had stepped on it [to exit the aircraft]."

The woman recalled how the other survivors were worried that the plane could blow up on the ground.

"It seemed like a [bad] dream," she said.

According to early reports, a Fokker 100 plane with up to 100 people on board crashed into a small two-story building during take-off. 12 people died and almost 50 were hospitalized.

See also: Cargo vessel crashes into bollard on Istanbul's Bosphorus

UPDATE: 29th December 18:45CET

RFE/RL reports that authorities are still investigating the cause of the deadly crash:

A top Kazakh official says authorities initially are looking at a possible "technical malfunction" or pilot error in the crash of a Bek Air plane that killed 12 of the 98 passengers and crew aboard early on December 27.

Roman Sklyar, a deputy prime minister, said a special government commission was being sent to the site to carry out an investigation into the accident, which occurred as the Fokker 100 plane attempted to take off from the Almaty airport en route to the capital, Nur-Sultan.

He cautioned, though, that the investigation was in the early stages and no cause had yet been pinpointed.

Sklyar said eight people died at the scene, while two died at the airport and two others at the hospital. The pilot was killed in the crash.

Sklyar added that 49 people were hospitalized, 18 in serious condition.

"Either this is pilot error or there were technical reasons," Sklyar said at a press conference in Almaty on December 27.

"The aircraft split into two parts. Most of the passengers who died were in the front part."

Kazakhstan on December 28 observed a day of mourning to honor the victims of the crash.

In the capital, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan's largest flag was at half-staff for the day of mourning while officials made urgent appeals for blood donations to help the dozens of injured survivors.

Russia and China were among the countries to join the European Union and the Vatican in expressing condolences to the former Soviet Central Asian republic.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development, the plane was unable to get to a significant height and crashed into a two-story building.

Four foreigners were aboard the plane, officials said -- two from Ukraine and one each from China and Kyrgyzstan. They all survived, Kazakh authorities said.

Bek Air, which operates a fleet of Fokker 100 planes, said it has canceled some 100 flights from December 27-31 as the investigation into the cause of the craft proceeds.

UPDATE 3 Jan 2020

Video has surfaced showing the moment the plane crashed into a building next to the runway: