Rescue teams are seen at the crash site of a Turkish cargo jet near Kyrgyzstan's Manas airport outside Bishkek, January 16, 2017. REUTERS/Vladimir Pirogov
A massive section of the aircraft’s tail billowed smoke as rescuers searched for victims among the wreckage in the village of Dacha-Suu, home to the majority of the victims.
“According to preliminary information, the plane crashed due to a pilot error,” Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Muhammetkaly Abulgaziev said at a briefing broadcast on state television.
A minimum of 37 people, including the plane’s four pilots, were killed and the toll may rise, said a spokesman for the emergency services, Muhammed Svarov.
The plane, operated by a Turkish cargo airline, was attempting a landing at the Manas airport in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek in thick fog.
One of the plane’s black boxes was recovered from the crash site, the government said in a statement without specifying how long it would take to decipher it.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2017.
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