Citing Kazakhstan’s emergencies ministry, media reports say an An-26 military transport aircraft flying from the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan, crashed while landing in Almaty on Saturday, March 13, killing four of six people on board.
“According to preliminary data, four people have been killed, two people have been hospitalized… with injuries,” the emergencies ministry was cited as saying in a statement.
RT reports that the two survivors were rushed to the hospital with serious injuries.
Russia’s Interfax news agency said citing a source that the plane belonged to Kazakhstan’s border guard service, part of the National Security Committee.
Aviation24.be notes that airport officials posted a message on the Almaty Airport Facebook page, which includes the following: “An alert was immediately announced and emergency services went to the scene. According to preliminary information, the aircraft crashed near the runway threshold.”
The Antonov An-26 (NATO reporting name: Curl) is a twin-engine turboprop civilian and military transport aircraft, designed and produced in the Soviet Union from 1969 to 1986.
The An-26 is reportedly also manufactured without a license agreement in China by the Xian Aircraft factory as the Y-14, later changed to be included in the Xian Y7 series.
