Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has declared d December 28, 2019 a national day of mourning over the Bek Air plane crash near Almaty’s International Airport.
Meanwhile, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister, Roman Sklyar, told reporters at a news conference in Nur-Sultan that at least twelve people have been killed in Friday’s plane crash.
"Those were mainly passengers who were in the nose [of the aircraft]. A total of 12 people were killed in the accident, eight of them died at the scene, two people died in the hospital and two others at Almaty airport," he said, according to TASS.
According to Sklyar, 49 people were hospitalized, 18 of them are in critical condition. Earlier reports said that the death toll had climbed to 15.
He added that the runway at the airport was in perfect condition during takeoff.
Radio Liberty says two Ukrainian nationals, a Chinese, and a Kyrgyz national were on the passenger list, but their fates were not immediately known.
All the other passengers and crew were thought to be Kazakh nationals.
Bek Air operates a fleet of Fokker 100 jets. All Bek Air and Fokker 100 flights have reportedly been suspended indefinitely as the investigation into the tragedy continues.
Recall, a plane with 95 passengers and five crew members on board crashed near Almaty on Friday. The Bek Air aircraft went down shortly after takeoff, according to Almaty airport.
The plane was reportedly en route from Almaty to the country's capital of Nur-Sultan. Almaty airport says the plane lost height at 07:22 local time, before striking a concrete barrier and crashing into a two-story building. There was no fire upon impact.
Bek Air is an airline in Kazakhstan founded in 1999 as a business jet operator. In 2008, Bek Air purchased shares of stock in Oral Ak Zhol Airport which is currently a base airport for the company.
