Nearly 70 killed in Kyrgyz plane crash
Washington, 25 August (IranVNC)—Nearly 70 people were killed yesterday when a Kyrgyz plane crashed shortly after taking off at Kyrgyzstan’s Mana airport in the capital city of Bishkek, Reuters reports.
By: IranVNC
Published: Monday, August 25, 2008
10:09GMT—6:09AM/EST
PLANE CRASH – KYRGYZSTAN – IRAN – ACCIDENT
Washington, 25 August (IranVNC)—Nearly 70 people were killed yesterday when a Kyrgyz plane crashed shortly after taking off at Kyrgyzstan’s Mana airport in the capital city of Bishkek, Reuters reports.
“According to the latest information 65 people were killed, 22 were hospitalized with various injuries and three returned home after receiving medical help,” said Kyrgyzstan’s Prime Minister Igor Chudinov today, reports AFP.
The plane crashed just 10 minutes after it took off because of a significant loss of cabin pressure in the worst aviation accident in Kyrgyzstan since the Central Asian country gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, AFP reports.
There were 90 people on board the Boeing-737 headed for Tehran, many of whom were nationals of Canada, China, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkey. Among the dead were 44 Iranians and ten members of a local teenage basketball team, reports IRNA.
Iran’s ambassador to Kyrgyzstan visited the survivors of the crash at Bishkek hospitals
The ten Iranians that survived the crash are being transferred to Iran to be treated for their wounds inside the Islamic Republic.
Sources: IRNA, Agence France-Presse, Reuters
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