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Military transport plane crashes in southern Kazakhstan

The plane had crashed 20 kilometres from the airport
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

ASTANA, December 25 (Itar-Tass) —— A military transport plane crashed in the south of Kazakhstan on Tuesday, December 25, the news agency Kazinform said.

The plane belonged to the border guard service.

“There were 7 crewmembers and 20 army personnel, including acting director of the border guard service, Colonel Turganbek Stambekov, aboard the An-72 plane,” the national security committee said.

Kazinform said rescuers, medics and military experts are working at the scene of the accident. Dozens of ambulances have been called in. The plane flying from Astana crashed in a pit outside the town of Tassai in southern Shymkent Region.

“It was a company plane. It left Astana at about 16:00 local time (14:00 Moscow time) and disappeared from the screens at 18:55,” a spokesman for the national security committee said.

He said the plane had crashed 20 kilometres from the airport.

“I cannot say for sure but since the crew had decided to take off, then the weather must have been fair,” the official said.

The investigation is underway. Kazinform cited unconfirmed reports as saying that “10 people died” as a result of the crash.