A Turkish cargo jet has crashed near Kyrgyzstan’s Manas airport, killing at least 32 people, most of them residents of a village struck by the Boeing 747 as it tried to land in dense fog, Kyrgyz officials said.

According to the airport administration, the plane was supposed to make a stopover at Manas, 25km north of capital Bishkek, on its way from Hong Kong to Istanbul on Monday.

It crashed when trying to land in poor visibility at 7:31 local time (01:31 GMT).
The plane crashed into the village of Dacha-Suu near Manas airport Vladimir Pirogov/Reuters]

The crash damaged 15 buildings in the village, said Mukhammed Svarov, head of crisis management centre at the emergencies ministry, putting the toll at least 32 people after initially reporting 15 deaths.

Medical staff said that six children were among the victims. Four pilots also died, the health ministry said.

Manas airport, Kyrgystan’s main international airport, has been closed.

According to Flightradar24 the plane belonged to ACT MyCargo Airlines, a Turkish cargo airline based in Istanbul.

Local media reported that the plane was operated by Turkish Airlines under flight number TK6491.

[Source: Reuters news agency]