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All passengers, crew killed in An-72 crash in southern Kazakhstan

Among crash victims are the director of Kazakhstan’s border service

Photo ITAR-TASS

Photo ITAR-TASS

ASTANA, December 26 (Itar-Tass) — All passengers and crewmembers were killed in the crash of an An-72 military plane of Kazakhstan’s border service, the press service of the republic’s national security committee said on Wednesday.

“All 27 people onboard, including seven crewmembers were killed,” the press service said. “Among crash victims are the director of Kazakhstan’s border service, Colonel Turganbek Stambekov, a group of officers from the border service’s central office and servicemen of the Ontustik (South) regional department, who arrived in Astana to take part in a meeting of the border service’s military council on December 25.”

The An-72 military transport plane was built in December 1990 and in 2012 it underwent maintenance at Ukraine’s Antonov aircraft building plant.

“The crew included highly skilled military pilots and specialists,” the press service said.

The plane crashed while approaching the city of Shymkent in southern Kazakhstan at 18:55 local time on Tuesday.

A special commission to investigate the crash is working on the site.

The chairman of the national security committee, Nurtai Abykayev, left for Shymkent.

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