Kazakhstan plane crash kills at least 20 - reports

Published on 29/01/2013 10:01

A PLANE carrying 15 passengers and five crew members has crashed near the Kazakhstan city of Almaty, according to the Interfax news agency.

The airline SCAT has said one of its planes crashed near the country’s principal city, and all 20 on board are believed dead.

A SCAT statement says 15 passengers and five crew members were aboard the plane that crashed Tuesday and no survivors have been reported.

The Interfax news agency cited the deputy governor of Almaty province, Amandyk Batalov, as saying the aircraft was flying from the northern town of Kokshetau.

Yuri Ilyin, deputy head of the emergencies department in Almaty, told Reuters that 22 people had been killed in the crash.

Details on the crash were sparse and the type of plane was unknown. SCAT flies Boeing 757s and 737s along with the Yak-42 and the An-24.

This is the second major aircraft accident in Kazakhstan in the past month. In December, 27 people died when an An-72 military plane crashed near the southern city of Shymkent.