Plane crashes in Kazakhstan killing nine: govt

Almaty, Kazakhstan, Dec 27 (AFP/APP): Nine people died Friday when a passenger plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Almaty airport in Kazakhstan, the government said.

The Central Asian country’s emergencies committee said that 100 people were on board the Bek Air plane, including five staff.

Nine people, six of them children, were injured, according to the committee.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pledged to provide families of the victims with compensation and tweeted that those responsible “will be severely punished in accordance with the law.”

Tokayev also said that a government commission had been set up to investigate the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.

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