Plane with 100 on board crashes in Kazakhstan, killing at least 9

ALMATY - A plane with 95 passengers and five crew members on board crashed near the city of Almaty in Kazakhstan on Friday (Dec 27), killing at least nine people, authorities in the Central Asian nation said.

The Bek Air plane was heading for the capital, Nur-Sultan, and "lost altitude during takeoff and broke through a concrete fence" before hitting a two-storey building, Kazakhstan's Civil Aviation Committee said in a statement.

According to the Emergencies Committee, at least nine people were killed.

Local news reported that nine people, including six children, were injured.

A Reuters reporter travelling to the airport said there was thick fog in the area.

The aircraft reportedly disappeared from radar at 7.05am local time.

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It lost altitude near the Kyzyl Tu village and crashed into a two-storey building.

Pictures show wreckage of the Fokker 100 plane strewn across land near the former capital, while video footage shows houses ruined with sections of the plane strewn across the landscape.

The committee and Almaty airport said emergency services were working at the site to get survivors out.

The plane belonged to Kazakh carrier Bek Air, which operates a fleet of Fokker 100 jets.

The aviation committee said it was suspending all flights of that type of aircraft pending an investigation.

"Those responsible will face tough punishment in accordance with the law," Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev tweeted, expressing condolences to the victims and their families.