At least 37 dead after cargo plane crashes into Kyrgyzstan village
Print Edition
A CARGO plane attempting to land in thick fog crashed into a village near Kyrgyzstan’s main airport yesterday, killing at least 37 people. Authorities are blaming pilot error.
A massive section of the aircraft’s tail billowed smoke as rescuers searched for victims among the wreckage in the village of Dacha-Suu, home to the majority of the victims.
“According to preliminary information, the plane crashed due to a pilot error,” Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Muhammetkaly Abulgaziev said at a briefing broadcast on state television.
At least 37 people, including the plane’s four pilots, were killed and the toll may rise, said Muhammed Svarov, a spokesman for the emergency services.
The plane, which was operated by a Turkish cargo airline, was attempting a landing at Manas airport in Bishkek in thick fog.
Crushed cars, shattered homes and huge chunks of burnt debris littered the village, which was hit by the plane around 7:30am, a time when many of its residents would still be at home in bed.
“Our grandson said something was burning,” one villager told reporters.
“We heard a roar and (what felt) like an earthquake. Many people were sleeping, everything around was burning. One of the parts of the aircraft fell on our neighbor’s house. She and her whole family died.”
Zumriyat Rezakhanova, another villager, said that the plane fell “right on the homes” where residents were sleeping.
“My sister’s home is badly damaged. Luckily she and her family survived,” Rezakhanova said.
The cargo plane was on its way from Hong Kong to Istanbul via Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s capital.
One of the plane’s black boxes was recovered from the crash site, the government said in a statement.
It did not say how long it would take to decipher.
International aviation experts and representatives of the company who flew the plane, ACT Airlines, will arrive at the crash site today, Abulgaziev said at a late briefing, adding that the search operation will resume in the morning in areas where the largest pieces of the plane fell.
In a statement, the Turkish cargo airline said it was a Boeing 747-400 which crashed.
ACT Airlines said it was “deeply saddened” by the crash and noted that “the cause of the accident is unknown.”
Boeing, the plane’s manufacturer, meanwhile extended its “deepest condolences” over the crash and offered to assist Kyrgyz authorities with the investigation.
Elmira Sheripova, a spokeswoman for the emergency services ministry, said that 17 houses had been “completely destroyed” when the plane crashed.
Manas airport has since reopened despite air authorities initially saying the hub would remain shut until the evening.
Prime Minister Sooronbai Jeenbekov was heading a specially appointed government commission to investigate the crash and the country’s state prosecutor has also opened an investigation.
Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev canceled a visit to China to return to Bishkek, according to Kyrgyz media.
Authorities said the country will observe a day of mourning today.
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