The Bek Air airline's Fokker 100 plane, heading from Almaty to the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan with almost 100 people on board, crashed earlier in the day soon after take-off. It lost altitude, broke through a concrete fence and hit a two-story building.

Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry said on Friday that a total of 12 people were killed and 49 people received injuries in the plane crash near Almaty.

"As a result of the incident, 12 people were killed, 49 were injured," the ministry's spokesman Nursultan Nurakhmetov said, adding that the numbers came from the country's Health Ministry.

He added that the identities of the victims had been established.

In total, there were 5 crew members and 93 passengers on board the aircraft, including foreigners, the Interior Ministry said.

Later on Friday, the Interior Ministry released a statement which said there were four foreigners on board the plane, including two Ukrainians, one Kyrgyz and a Chinese national. All four survived the crash.

"According to preliminary information, nine people have died, nine more have been injured, including six children", the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure said in a statement.

According to the ministry, the aircraft lost altitude after take-off and crashed into a two-story building at 7:22 a.m. local time (01:22 GMT).

The plane was travelling from Almaty to the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan but disappeared from radars.

There were no Russian citizens on board of the plane that crashed on Friday near the airport of the Kazakh city of Almaty, the Russian Consulate General said, citing its preliminary data.

“Now this information is being checked. According to preliminary data, no Russian citizens [were on board],” a spokesperson for the Consulate General said.

There is no fire at the scene. Rescue, medical and law enforcement services are working at the site.

Photos and videos from the scene have been shared on social media.

Крушение самолёта авиакомпании «Bek Air» во время вылета из аэропорта Алматы. Сегодня утром. Есть жертвы. Информация уточняется. Видео Инстаграм: @maral_yerman pic.twitter.com/1Q3QcC4qfD — Александр Цой (@Alexandr_Tsoy) December 27, 2019

Посмотреть эту публикацию в Instagram Недалеко от аэропорта. При вззлете. Помощь нужна Публикация от Марал Ерман (@maral_yerman) 26 Дек 2019 в 6:04 PST

The Kazakh government has created a special commission to investigate the incident and suspended flights of Fokker-100 planes following the crash.

"The commission is heading for the crash site. All the details and causes [of the crash] will be found. Until the circumstances of the incident are clarified, all flights of planes of this type will be suspended", Kazakhstan's Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development added.

The Bek Air airline uses Fokker-100 planes for flights from Almaty to Nur-Sultan.

The plane crashed in a residential area, people are being evacuated.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has declared December 28 the day of national mourning following the deadly plane crash near Almaty, his press secretary said on Friday.

"President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had declared December 28, 2019, the day of national mourning over deaths from the passenger plane crash near Almaty," Berik Kurmangali wrote on Facebook.