12 killed as plane crashes in Kazakhstan but many survive

Twelve people died when a plane carrying 100 passengers and crew crashed shortly after takeoff from Kazakhstan's largest city on Friday and slammed into a house, but many on board survived.

A video released by the Central Asian country's emergencies committee showed the 23-year-old plane operated by budget carrier Bek Air torn into pieces with its nose crushed into a collapsed house, as rescue crews worked to pull people from the wreckage.

The aircraft disappeared from the radar minutes after it took off from Almaty airport at 7.05 am (01:05 GMT) on its way to the capital Nur-Sultan with 95 passengers and five crew members, the airport authority said in a statement.

It hit a concrete barrier and then slammed into a two-storey building near the city's boundary northeast of the airport.

Kazakhstan responded to the crash by grounding the Fokker model, which makes up the whole of the Bek Air fleet, and launched an investigation.

The country's emergencies committee released a list of 12 people who died, including the captain, revising down earlier tolls provided by officials and media.

The health ministry said 53 people had been injured, nine of them children, adding that 10 adults were in critical condition.

Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar said the tail of the plane had touched the runway twice during takeoff.

"Either this is a pilot error, or there were technical reasons," Sklyar said at a press conference in Almaty.

"The aircraft split into two parts. Most of the passengers who died were in the front part."