A military aircraft carrying 27 people, including top members of the Kazakhstan border guard, crashed on Tuesday in the south of the country with all those on board believed dead, officials said. The KNB security service said the An-72 military transport was carrying seven crew and 20 servicemen, including the acting head of the Kazakh federal border service Turganbek Stambekov. The Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency said those on board also included one of Stambekov’s deputies, as well as top regional guards commanders.
The plane crashed 20 kilometres from Shymkent airport in the south of Kazakhstan where it had been due to land after a flight from the capital Astana. Kazakhstan’s KTK television said the plane fell from a height of 2,600 feet and that weather around the airport at the time was very poor. There was no immediate explanation for the crash but Kazakh military prosecutors said they had opened a criminal case into a possible violation of aviation rules or flight preparation. Prosecutors confirmed the plane belonged to the KNB (Committee of National Security) which is the Kazakh successor to the Soviet-era KGB and is responsible for border security.
