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Top border officials die in Kazakh plane crash
Source: AFP |
December 27, 2012, Thursday
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Print Edition
KAZAKHSTAN mourned the deaths of 27 people yesterday in one of its worst ever aviation disasters, a tragedy that wiped out much of the top echelon of the state border service including the acting chief.
The KNB state security service confirmed that all 27 crew and servicemen on board the An-72 military jet were killed on Tuesday evening when it crashed close to Shymkent airport in the south of the country.
"All 27 occupants of the aircraft, including seven crew members, have perished," the National Security Service said in a statement.
The victims included the acting head of the Kazakh federal border service Turganbek Stambekov and his wife. The disaster also claimed the lives of much of the top leadership of the border service, with a total of 11 top officials killed.
Another five lieutenant-colonels from the regional Ontustik border unit were killed as well as three rank-and-file servicemen.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev declared December 27 a day of national mourning and expressed his "deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the dead," the presidency said.
He said it appeared that there was no indication of foul play and the disaster appeared to be the result of an "accumulation of tragic circumstances" including bad weather.
KNB chief Nurtai Abykayev told reporters in Shymkent that the causes of the disaster could have been "the weather conditions, the human factor and the technical condition of the aircraft."
The black box of the plane has been found, he added.
The passengers had been attending a meeting of border guards in the capital Astana and were on their way to a security meeting in Shymkent.
The KNB state security service confirmed that all 27 crew and servicemen on board the An-72 military jet were killed on Tuesday evening when it crashed close to Shymkent airport in the south of the country.
"All 27 occupants of the aircraft, including seven crew members, have perished," the National Security Service said in a statement.
The victims included the acting head of the Kazakh federal border service Turganbek Stambekov and his wife. The disaster also claimed the lives of much of the top leadership of the border service, with a total of 11 top officials killed.
Another five lieutenant-colonels from the regional Ontustik border unit were killed as well as three rank-and-file servicemen.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev declared December 27 a day of national mourning and expressed his "deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the dead," the presidency said.
He said it appeared that there was no indication of foul play and the disaster appeared to be the result of an "accumulation of tragic circumstances" including bad weather.
KNB chief Nurtai Abykayev told reporters in Shymkent that the causes of the disaster could have been "the weather conditions, the human factor and the technical condition of the aircraft."
The black box of the plane has been found, he added.
The passengers had been attending a meeting of border guards in the capital Astana and were on their way to a security meeting in Shymkent.
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