INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A plane with 100 people on board has crashed in Kazakhstan, killing at least nine people, officials say.They say the Bek Air aircraft went
down shortly after taking off at Almaty airport on Friday morning local time.A Reuters reporter close to the scene said there was heavy fog
The airport said there were survivors.The plane was en route from Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, to the country's capital of Nur-Sultan
The cause of the crash is not known.Almaty's airport said there were 95 passengers and five crew on board.It said the plane lost height at
07:22 local time (01:22 GMT), before striking a concrete barrier and crashing into a two-storey building.There was no fire upon impact.The
Flightradar24 aviation information website said the flight departed at 01:21 GMT, and "the last signal was received in that same minute".It
said Bek Air Flight Z92100 was a Fokker 100 plane.Skip Twitter post by @flightradar24Flightradar24✔@flightradar24Bek Air #Z92100
crashed shortly after takeoff from Almaty this morning
Preliminary ADS-B data is available at https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/bek-air-flight-z92100-crashes-shortly-after-take-off-from-almaty/
We are currently retrieving and processing granular ADS-B data for this flight.Footage has emerged of rescuers working at the scene
In it, a woman can be heard calling for an ambulance and the cockpit of the plane is seen wedged into the side of the building.A special
commission will be set up to determine the cause of the crash.Kazakhstan's President Qasym-Jomart Toqayev expressed "deep condolences" to
He also said that "all those responsible will be severely punished in accordance with the law".Bek Air was founded in 1999, targeting VIP
flight operations, the company's website says
Nowadays, the company describes itself as Kazakhstan's first low-cost airline
Its fleet is made up of seven Fokker-100 aircraft.This is not the first serious plane crash in the city
On 29 January 2013, a passenger plane travelling from the northern town of Kokshetau came down near Almaty, killing 20 people.A month
earlier, 27 people died when a military plane carrying senior Kazakh security officials crashed in the south of the country.Kazakhstan
country profile9 August 2019Share this with Facebook Share this with Messenger Share this with Twitter Share this with Email ShareA huge
country the size of Western Europe, Kazakhstan has vast mineral resources and enormous economic potential.
The varied landscape stretches
from the mountainous, heavily populated regions of the east to the sparsely populated, energy-rich lowlands in the west, and from the
industrialised north, with its Siberian climate and terrain, through the arid, empty steppes of the centre, to the fertile
south.
Ethnically the former Soviet republic is as diverse, with the Kazakhs making up nearly two thirds of the population, ethnic Russians
just under a quarter, and smaller minorities the rest
Suppressed under Soviet rule, the main religion, Islam, is undergoing a revival.
Since independence following the collapse of the Soviet
Union in 1991, major investment in the oil sector has brought rapid economic growth, and eased some of the stark disparities in wealth of
the 1990s.
See more country profiles - Profiles compiled by BBC MonitoringFACTSRepublic of KazakhstanCapital: Nur-SultanPopulation 18
million (UN, 2012)
Area 2.7 million sq km (1 million sq miles)
Major languages Kazakh, Russian
Major religions Islam, Christianity
Life
expectancy 68 years (men), 77 years (women) (UN)
Currency Tenge
UNAFPLEADERSPresident: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
Image copyrightPAVEL
ALEKSANDROV\TASS VIA GETTY IMAGESImage captionMr Tokayev has been a senior official since independenceA long-standing colleague of
independent Kazakhstan's founder, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took over as president when his mentor suddenly stepped down
in March 2019.
Mr Tokayev was chairman of the Senate at the time, and says he will continue the policies of his predecessor and rely on his
opinion in key policy matters.
He won a snap presidential election in June 2019 to consolidate his position.
The new president has served
in various senior positions since independence in 1991, including prime minister and foreign minister.
Nursultan Nazarbayev's long
authoritarian rule faced few challenges from weak opposition parties, and he managed a gradual transfer of power that guarantees him a
future role as chairman for life of a newly-strengthened Security Council.
In addition, his daughter Dariga has succeeded Mr Tokayev as
head of the Senate, raising her profile as a potential successor.
MEDIAImage copyrightAFPThe media market is dominated by state-owned and
pro-government outlets.
TV is the most popular medium
The government operates national networks.
The authorities regularly block websites and access to social media and messaging apps has been
cut several times.
See full media profileTIMELINEImage copyrightAFPImage captionOil money is driving the development of Astana, which
became Kazakhstan's new capital in 1997Late 15th century - With the formation of the Kazakh khanate, the Kazakhs emerge as a distinct ethnic
group, but split into three hordes.
1731-42 - Russia establishes control.
1936 - Kazakhstan becomes a full union republic of the
USSR.
Late 1920s-1930s - Intensive industrialisation and forced collectivisation, which leads to the deaths of more than one million people
from starvation.
1954-62 - About two million people, mainly Russians, move to Kazakhstan during Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's campaign
to develop virgin lands, lowering the proportion of ethnic Kazakhs to 30%.
1991 - Nursultan Nazarbayev wins uncontested presidential
elections; Kazakhstan declares independence from the Soviet Union.
2019 - President Nazarbayev steps down from the presidency, but retains
a powerful role as chairman of the National Security Council.
Air disasters timeline11 March 2019Share this with Facebook Share this with
Messenger Share this with Twitter Share this with Email ShareA chronology of major air disasters since 1998:
201910 March An Ethiopian
Airlines Boeing 737 Max crashes six minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa
All 157 people onboard are killed
The victims come from more than 30 countries.
Image captionAll 157 passengers and crew were killed when the Ethiopian Airlines plane
crashed shortly after take-off201829 October A Boeing 737 Max, operated by Lion Air, crashes into the Java Sea shortly after taking off from
All 189 passengers and crew are killed, and a volunteer diver dies in the subsequent recovery operation
Investigators said the plane - which had had technical problems on previous flights - should have been grounded.
18 May A Boeing 737
passenger plane crashes shortly after take-off from Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, killing 112 people
One passenger survives.
11 April A military plane crashes shortly after take-off near the Algerian capital Algiers, killing all 257 people
on board, including 10 crew members
Most of the dead are soldiers and their families.
12 March A plane carrying 71 passengers and crew crashes on landing at Kathmandu airport
More than 50 people are killed when the Bombardier Dash 8 turboprop comes down.
18 February A passenger plane crashes into the Zagros
mountains in Iran killing all 66 people on board
The Aseman Airlines ATR turboprop crashes about an hour after taking off in the capital, Tehran, heading for the south-western city of
Yasuj.
11 February A Russian passenger plane crashes minutes after leaving Moscow's Domodedovo airport with 71 people on board
The Antonov An-148 belonging to Saratov Airlines was en route to the city of Orsk in the Ural mountains when it crashed near the village of
Argunovo, about 80km (50 miles) south-east of Moscow.
2017There were no passenger jet crashes in 2017 - the safest year in the history of
commercial airlines.
201625 December A Russian military Tu-154 jet airliner crashes in the Black Sea, with the loss of all 92 passengers
The plane came down soon after take-off from an airport near the city of Sochi
It was carrying artistes due to give a concert for Russian troops in Syria, along with journalists and military.
Image copyrightEPAImage
captionBereaved residents of the Black Sea resort of Sochi must now come to terms with the latest air disaster7 December All 48 people on
board a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane were killed when it crashed in the north of the country
The national airline - accused of safety failures in the past - insisted this time that strict checks on Flight PK-661 from Chitral to
Islamabad left "no room for any technical error".
Image copyrightEPAImage captionAll 48 people on board the Pakistan International Airlines
plane were killed when it crashed in the north of the country on 7 December28 November The plane carrying the football team of the Brazilian
club Chapecoense runs out of fuel and crashes near Medellin, Colombia, killing 71 people, including most of the players and management
Three players were among the six survivors, while nine did not travel.
19 May French President Francois Hollande confirms that an EgyptAir
flight reported missing between Paris and Cairo has crashed, with 66 people on board.
19 March A FlyDubai Boeing 737-800 crashes in
Rostov-on-Don, Russia, killing all 62 people on board.
201531 October An Airbus A321, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia, crashes over
central Sinai some 22 minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people on board
The Islamic State group's local affiliate later says it brought down the plane in response to Russian intervention in Syria.
30 June
Indonesian Hercules C-130 military transport plane crashes into a residential area of Medan
The army says all 122 people on board died, along with at least 19 on the ground.
24 March: Germanwings Airbus A320 airliner crashes in the
French Alps near Digne, on a flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf
All 148 people on board were feared dead.
201428 December: AirAsia QZ8501 flying from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore goes missing over
The pilot radioed for permission to divert around bad weather but no mayday alert was issued
There were 162 passengers and crew on board.
24 July: Air Algerie AH5017 disappears over Mali amid poor weather near the border with
The McDonnell Douglas MD-83 was operated by Spain's Swiftair, and was heading from Ouagadougou to Algiers carrying 116 passengers - 51 of
All are thought to have died.
23 July: Forty-eight people die when a Taiwanese ATR-72 plane crashes into stormy seas during a short flight
TransAsia Airways GE222 was carrying 54 passengers and four crew to the island of Penghu
It made an abortive attempt to land before crashing on a second attempt.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionMalaysia Airlines Flight
MH17 was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was believed to have been shot down over conflict-hit Ukraine17 July: Malaysia
Airlines flight MH17 crashes near Grabove in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board, 193 of them Dutch
Pro-Russian rebels are widely accused of shooting the plane down using a surface-to-air missile - they deny responsibility.
8 March: The
disappearance of Malaysia Airlines MH370 during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing leads to the largest and most expensive search in
Despite vast effort, notably in the hostile South Indian Ocean, nothing was found until July 2015, when an aircraft wing part washed up on
French officials confirmed the debris was from MH370.
11 February: A military transport plane - a Hercules C-130 - carrying 78 people
crashes in a mountainous part of north-eastern Algeria
Reports suggest there is one survivor from among the military personnel, family members and crew.
201317 November: Tatarstan Airlines
Boeing 737 crashes on landing in Kazan, Russia, killing all 50 people on board.
16 October: Forty-nine people, including foreigners from
some 10 countries as well as Laotian nationals, die when a Lao Airlines ATR 72-600 plunges into the Mekong River as it came in to
land.
20123 June: A Dana Air passenger plane with about 150 people on board crashes in a densely populated area of Nigeria's largest city,
Lagos.
20 April: A Bhoja Air Boeing 737 crashes on its approach to the main airport in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, killing all 121
passengers and six crew.
201126 July: Some 78 people are killed when a Moroccan military C-130 Hercules crashes into a mountain near
Officials blamed bad weather.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionThe pilot of the IranAir Boeing 727 which crashed near the north-western city
of Orumiyeh reported a technical failure before trying to land8 July: A Hewa Bora Airways plane crash-lands in bad weather in Democratic
Republic of Congo, killing 74 of the 118 people on board.
9 January: An IranAir Boeing 727 breaks into pieces near the city of Orumiyeh,
killing 77 of the 100 people on board
The pilots had reported a technical failure before trying to land.
20105 November: An Aerocaribbean passenger turboprop crashes in
mountains in central Cuba, killing all 68 people on board.
28 July: A Pakistani plane on an Airblue domestic flight from Karachi crashes
into a hillside while trying to land at Islamabad airport, killing all 152 people on board.
22 May: An Air India Express Boeing 737
overshot a hilltop airport in Mangalore, southern India, and crashed into a valley, bursting into flames and killing 158.
12 May: An
Afriqiyah Airways Airbus 330 crashes while trying to land near Tripoli airport in Libya, killing more than 100 people.
10 April: A Tupolev
154 plane carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski crashes near the Russian airport of Smolensk, killing more than 90 people on board.
25
January: Ethiopian Airlines passenger jet crashes into the sea with 89 people on board shortly after take-off from Beirut.
200915 July: A
Caspian Airlines Tupolev plane crashes in the north of Iran en route to Armenia
All 168 passengers and crew are reported dead.
30 June: A Yemeni passenger plane, an Airbus 310, crashes in the Indian Ocean near the
Only one of the 153 people on board survives.
1 June: An Air France Airbus 330 travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashes into the
Atlantic with 228 people on board
Search teams later recover some 50 bodies in the ocean.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionAll 168 passengers and crew were reported dead when
a Caspian Airlines Tupolev plane crashed in the north of Iran en route to Armenia20 May: An Indonesian army C-130 Hercules transport plane
crashes into a village on eastern Java, killing at least 97 people.
12 February: A passenger plane crashes into a house in Buffalo, New
York, killing all 49 people on board and one person on the ground.
200814 September: A Boeing-737 crashes on landing near the central
Russian city of Perm, killing all 88 passengers and crew members on board.
24 August: A passenger plane crashes shortly after take-off from
Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, killing 68 people.
20 August: A Spanair plane veers off the runway on take-off at Madrid's Barajas airport,
killing 154 people and injuring 18.
200730 November: All 56 people on board an Atlasjet flight are killed when it crashes near the town of
Keciborlu in the mountainous Isparta province, about 12km (7.5 miles) from Isparta airport.
16 September: At least 87 people are killed
after a One-Two-Go plane crashed on landing in bad weather at the Thai resort of Phuket.
17 July: A TAM Airlines jet crashes on landing at
Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo, in Brazil's worst-ever air disaster
A total of 199 people are killed - all 186 on board and 13 on the ground.
5 May: A Kenya Airways Boeing 737-800 crashes in swampland in
southern Cameroon, killing all 114 on board
The official inquiry is yet to report on the cause of the disaster.
1 January: An Adam Air Boeing 737-400 carrying 102 passengers and crew
comes down in mountains on Sulawesi Island on a domestic Indonesian flight
All on board are presumed dead.
200629 September: A Boeing 737 carrying 154 passengers and crew crashed into the Amazon rainforest in
Brazil, killing all on board, after colliding with a private jet in mid-air.
22 August: A Russian Tupolev-154 passenger plane with 170
people on board crashes north of Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine.
9 July: A Russian S7 Airbus A-310 skids off the runway during landing at
Irkutsk airport in Siberia
A total of 124 people on board die, but more than 50 survive the crash.
3 May: An Armavia Airbus A-320 crashes into the Black Sea near
Sochi, killing all 113 people on board.
200510 December: A Sosoliso Airlines DC-9 crashes in the southern Nigerian city of Port Harcourt,
killing 103 people on board.
6 December: A C-130 military transport plane crashes on the outskirts of the Iranian capital Tehran, killing
110 people, including some on the ground.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionA mass funeral was held for those who died when a Mandala Airlines
plane with 112 passengers and five crew on board crashed after take-off in the Indonesian city of Medan22 October: A Bellview airlines
Boeing 737 carrying 117 people on board crashes soon after take-off from the Nigerian city of Lagos, killing everyone on board.
5
September: A Mandala Airlines plane with 112 passengers and five crew on board crashes after take-off in the Indonesian city of Medan,
killing almost all on board and dozens on the ground.
16 August: A Colombian plane operated by West Caribbean Airways crashes in a remote
region of Venezuela, killing all 160 people on board
The airliner, heading from Panama to Martinique, was packed with residents of the Caribbean island.
14 August: A Helios Airways flight from
Cyprus to Athens with 121 people on board crashes north of the Greek capital Athens, apparently after a drop in cabin pressure.
16 July: An
Equatair plane crashes soon after take-off from Equatorial Guinea's island capital, Malabo, west of the mainland, killing all 60 people on
board.
3 February: The wreckage of Kam Air Boeing 737 flight is located in high mountains near the Afghan capital Kabul, two days after the
plane vanished from radar screens in heavy snowstorms
All 104 people on board are feared dead.
200421 November: A passenger plane crashes into a frozen lake near the city of Baotou in the Inner
Mongolia region of northern China, killing all 53 on board and two on the ground, officials say.
3 January: An Egyptian charter plane
belonging to Flash Airlines crashes into the Red Sea, killing all 141 people on board
Most of the passengers are thought to be French tourists.
200325 December: A Boeing 727 crashes soon after take-off from the West African
state of Benin, killing at least 135 people en route to Lebanon.
8 July: A Boeing 737 crashes in Sudan shortly after take-off, killing 115
Only one passenger, a small child survived.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionThe Benin air crash happened when a Boeing 727 dropped out of
the sky soon after take-off, killing at least 135 people travelling to Lebanon26 May: A Ukrainian Yak-42 crashes near the Black Sea resort
of Trabzon in north-west Turkey, killing all 74 people on board - most of them Spanish peacekeepers returning home from Afghanistan.
8 May:
As many as 170 people are reported dead in DR Congo after the rear ramp of an old Soviet plane, an Ilyushin 76 cargo plane, apparently falls
off, sucking them out.
6 March: An Algerian Boeing 737 crashes after taking off from the remote Tamanrasset airport, leaving up to 102
people dead.
19 February: An Iranian military transport aircraft carrying 276 people crashes in the south of the country, killing all on
board.
8 January: A Turkish Airlines plane with 76 passengers and crew on board crashes while coming in to land at Diyarbakir.
200223
December: An Antonov 140 commuter plane carrying aerospace experts crashes in central Iran, killing all 46 people aboard
The delegation had been due to review an Iranian version of the same plane built under licence.
27 July: A fighter jet crashes into a crowd
of spectators in the west Ukrainian town of Lviv, killing 77 people, in what is the world's worst air show disaster.
1 July: Seventy-one
people, many of them children die when a Russian Tupolev 154 aircraft on a school trip to Spain collides with a Boeing 757 transport plane
over southern Germany.
25 May: A Boeing 747 belonging to Taiwan's national carrier - China Airlines - crashes into the sea near the
Taiwanese island of Penghu, with 225 passengers and crew on board.
7 May: China Northern Airlines plane carrying 112 people crashes into
the sea near Dalian in north-east China.
7 May: On the same day, an EgyptAir Boeing 735 crash lands near Tunis with 55 passengers and up to
Most people survive.
4 May: A BAC1-11-500 plane operated by EAS Airlines crashes in the Nigerian city of Kano, killing 148 people - half of
them on the ground.
15 April: Air China flight 129 crashes on its approach to Pusan, South Korea, with over 160 passengers and crew on
board.
12 February: A Tupolev 154 operated by Iran Air crashes in mountains in the west of Iran, killing all 117 on board.
29 January: A
Boeing 727 from the Ecuadorean TAME airline crashes in mountains in Colombia, killing 92 people.
200112 November: An American Airlines
A-300 bound for the Dominican Republic crashes after takeoff in a residential area of the borough of Queens, New York, killing all 260
people on board and at least five people on the ground.
8 October: A Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) airliner collides with a small
plane in heavy fog on the runway at Milan's Linate airport, killing 118 people.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionThe crashed
American Airlines flight of November 2000 left much of the Rockaway neighbourhood of New York enveloped by smoke4 October: A Russian Sibir
Airlines Tupolev 154,en route from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk in Siberia, explodes in mid-air and crashes into the Black Sea, killing 78
passengers and crew.
3 July: A Russian Tupolev 154,en route from Yekaterinburg in the Ural mountains to the Russian port of Vladivostok,
crashes near the Siberian city of Irkutsk, killing 133 passengers and 10 crew.
200030 October: A Singapore Airlines Boeing 747 bound for
Los Angeles crashes after take-off from Taipei airport in Taiwan, killing 78 of the 179 people on board.
23 August: A Gulf Air Airbus
crashes into the sea as it comes in to land in Bahrain, killing all 143 people on board.
25 July: Air France Concorde en route for New York
crashes into a hotel outside Paris shortly after takeoff, killing 113 people, including four on the ground.
Image copyrightGETTY
IMAGESImage captionThe Singapore Airlines Boeing 747 heading for Los Angeles crashed soon after take-off from Taipei airport in Taiwan17
July: Alliance Air Boeing 737-200 crashes into houses attempting to land at Patna, India, killing 51 people on board and four on the
ground.
19 April: Air Philippines Boeing 737-200 from Manila to Davao crashes on approach to landing, killing all 131 people on board.
31
January: Alaska Airlines MD-83 from Mexico to San Francisco plunges into ocean off southern California, killing all 88 people on board.
30
January: Kenya Airways A-310 crashes into Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, en route for Lagos, Nigeria
All but 10 of the 179 people on board die.
199931 October: EgyptAir Boeing 767 crashes into Atlantic Ocean after taking off from John F
Kennedy Airport in New York on flight to Cairo, Egypt, killing all 217 on board.
24 February: China Southwest Airlines plane crashes in a
field in China's coastal Zhejiang province after a mid-air explosion
All 61 people on board the Russian-built TU-154 flying from Chongqing to the south-eastern city of Wenzhou are killed.
199811 December:
Thai Airways International A-310 crashes on a domestic flight during its third attempt to land at Surat Thani, Thailand, killing 101
people.
2 September: Swissair MD-11 from New York to Geneva crashes in the Atlantic Ocean off Canada killing all 229 people on board.
16
February: Airbus A-300 owned by Taiwan's China Airlines crashes near Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek airport while trying to land in fog and rain
after a flight from Bali, Indonesia
All 196 on board and seven people on ground are killed.
2 February: Cebu Pacific Air DC-9 crashes into mountain in southern Philippines,
killing all 104 people aboard.
