At least 15 people were killed when a passenger plane with 98 people on board crashed in Kazakhstan's Almaty airport after it lost altitude on Friday, December 27.
The Fokker 100 aircraft, heading for the capital, Nur-Sultan, on a pre-dawn flight, "lost altitude during takeoff and broke through a concrete fence" before hitting a two-storey building, Kazakhstan's Civil Aviation Committee said in a statement.
A survivor told News website Tengrinews she heard a "terrifying sound" before the plane started losing altitude.
"The plane was flying with a tilt. Everything was like in a movie: screaming, shouting, people crying," she said.
At least 14 people were killed, and 22 have been hospitalised in grave condition, the Almaty mayor's office said.
The government and Almaty airport said emergency services were working at the site to get survivors out.
The plane belonged to Kazakh carrier Bek Air, which operates a fleet of Fokker 100 jets. The aviation committee said it was suspending all flights of that type of aircraft pending an investigation.
"Those responsible will face tough punishment in accordance with the law," Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev tweeted, expressing condolences to the victims and their families.
(With inputs from Reuters.)
