Kazakhstan: Plane carrying 100 crashes in Almaty; 14 deaths reported

In a tragic incident, a plane ferrying 100 people on board has crashed in Kazakhstan, killing at least 14 people and injuring 35, officials say. A Bek Air aircraft went down shortly after taking off at Almaty airport on Friday morning local time. Eyewitnesses on the ground say there was heavy fog in the area. The airport said there were survivors.

The Bek Air flight was en route from Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, to the country's capital of Nur-Sultan. The cause of the crash has not yet been determined. The southern Kazakh city's airport said there were 95 passengers and five crew on board. It said the plane lost height at 7:22 am local time, before striking a concrete barrier and crashing into a two-storey building. Fortunately, there was no fire or explosion.

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Rescue efforts underway

Locals posted videos of rescue efforts at the scene on social media. In one of them, a woman can be heard calling for an ambulance and the cockpit of the plane is seen wedged into the side of the building. The government announced the formation of a special commission to determine the cause of the crash. Kazakhstan's President Qasim-Jomart Toqayev expressed his "deep condolences" to the victims' relatives.

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Bek Air

According to the company's website, Bek Air was founded in 1999 and targeted VIP flight operations. Nowadays, the company describes itself as Kazakhstan's first low-cost airline. Its fleet is seven Fokker-100 aircraft.

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