At least 15 people were on Friday, December 27, killed when a plane carrying 98 passengers crashed shortly after takeoff near the city of Almaty in Kazakhstan.
Almaty airport said survivors and emergency workers were on the scene in Almerek village, just beyond the end of the runway. Footage from the site, which was cordoned off, appeared to show the Fokker 100 plane had hit a building.
The Herald gathered that the plane, flight number Z92100, was carrying 93 passengers and five crew, when the crash occurred.
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It was learnt that Kazakhstan declared a national day of mourning on Saturday for the victims of the crash.
Among those killed was Dana Kruglova, a 35-year-old editor for the Informburo.kz website. In a post, the site stated that Kruglova was travelling from Almaty to the capital, Nur-Sultan, to celebrate the New Year holiday with her parents.
The site’s editor, Mikhail Dorofeyev, said: “Dana Kruglova was a real journalist. Dana was honest, brave and objective at the same time. This is a terrible loss for all of us. The plane was flying with a tilt. Everything was like in a movie: screaming, shouting, people crying.”
A survivor, however, narrated the ordeal, saying she heard a “terrifying sound” before the plane started losing altitude.
See the wreckage images below:
