A Turkish cargo jet belonging to ACT Airlines crashed near Kyrgyzstan’s Manas airport on Monday, killing 37 people most of whom were residents of a village hit by the Boeing 747 as it tried to land in dense fog, the Kyrgyz government said.
According to Reuters, the airport administration said the plane was supposed to make a stopover at Manas, near the capital of Bishkek, on its way from Hong Kong to İstanbul. It crashed when trying to land in poor visibility at 7:31 local time (0131 GMT).
The doomed plane damaged 15 buildings in the village, said Mukhammed Svarov, head of crisis management center at the emergencies ministry, putting the toll at least 20 people.
The bodies of 15 villagers and the pilot were recovered by rescue workers, Kyrgyz authorities said. Officials said the death toll could rise.
Kyrgyz officials control the roads to the site of the crash.
Kyrgyz officials inspect the site of the crash.