A Turkish cargo plane crashed Monday in a residential area just outside the main airport in Kyrgyzstan, killing 37 people on the ground and in the plane, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.

The Boeing 747 crashed on approach to the Manas airport, south of the capital, Bishkek.

Reports of the death toll ranged from 37 people, according to emergency officials in the Central Asian nation, to 31 reported by the presidential press office which also said rescue teams had recovered parts of nine bodies.

Fifteen people including six children have been hospitalised.