Airliner crashes in Uzbek capital
( 2004-01-14 01:37) (Agencies)
An Antonov-24 airplane crashed late Tuesday in Uzbekistan's capital of
Tashkent, killing 37 people, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported, citing Interior
Ministry officials.
Uzbek officials could
not immediately be reached for confirmation. Interfax reported that the plane was a
Yakovlev-40.
The Interior Ministry said the plane crashed while coming in for a landing
among heavy clouds, according to ITAR-Tass. President Islam Karimov went to the
accident site, ITAR-Tass said.
Roads around Tashkent's airport were blocked and it was not immediately clear
whether the crash had taken place at the airport itself or in it's vicinity,
local residents said.
The reports did not state whether the plane belonged to an airline.
The An-24 is a twin-engine turboprop plane with a capacity of about 50
passengers. The Yak-40 is a small jet with a capacity of 32 passengers and three
crew.
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