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A nine-year-old boy ran home from school to find his entire family had been killed after a cargo plane crashed in a village.

The Turkish cargo plane crashed in the village of Dacha-Suu in Kyrgyzstan and left at least 37 people dead.

It is thought this includes 12 children from the village with many others injured.

One nine year old boy had left the family home early for school in a neighbouring village.

However, after seeing the plane come down he reportedly ran back to his home to find his entire family had been killed.

(Image: REUTERS) (Image: REUTERS) (Image: REUTERS) (Image: REUTERS) (Image: REUTERS)

The Boeing 747 went down near Manas airport as it tried to land in dense fog, officials said.

According to the airport administration, the plane was supposed to make a stopover at Manas, near the capital city Bishkek, on its way from Hong Kong to Istanbul.

It crashed when trying to land in poor visibility at 7:31 local time (01:31 GMT).

The doomed plane damaged 15 buildings in the village, said Mukhammed Svarov, head of crisis management centre at the emergencies ministry.

Rescue workers recovered the body of a pilot and villagers, the healthcare ministry said.

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The haunting remains of the huge aircraft lay broken in the village, some on top of smashed homes.

The cargo plane was making a refuelling stop in foggy conditions at Bishkek's Manas Airport en route from Hong Kong to Istanbul.

(Image: REUTERS) (Image: REUTERS) (Image: REUTERS) (Image: Barcroft Media)

Russian broadcaster NTV reported: "The pilot tried to make a second landing attempt but failed to climb."

"The house was collapsing on us and I was worrying about my children, that they could die," one injured victim Baktygul Kubatova told AKIpress.

"We were sleeping at home as usual. I woke up after I saw something red in the window. "I had no time to realise what happened.

"Then it turned out that the ceiling and the walls of the house was crashing. With fear, I covered my son with my hand to protect him from the ruins. "We could not move and I started crying for help to get out of there.

"The house was collapsing over and over again. My child was crying. "The neighbours came to help.

"My daughter received injuries, as she was sleeping near the window, while me and my son were sleeping on the floor.

"As soon as we got out of the house, we immediately ran to the neighbours to wait for my brother there. "But all other houses were on fire, all of them were destroyed, everything was damaged as if it was an earthquake.... "Thank God that we were just injured and stayed alive."

(Image: Barcroft Media) (Image: REUTERS)

Deputy director of the Kyrgyzstan Civil Aviation Agency, Bakyt Dhunushaliev, said: "The plane was about to land in foggy weather conditions, but the visibility allowed the pilot to land according to all the rules."

Transport Minister Zhamshit Kalilov said: "We can't say at the moment if it was due to weather conditions or some technical malfunction."

A pilot of the Turkish Airlines cargo plane was alive after the crash but died at the scene said Kyrgyz Health Ministry spokeswoman Elena Bayalinova.

The other three crew members also died in the crash at 7.31am local time.

"The pilot died at the scene of the plane crash, an ambulance took his body to the morgue,"

The number of houses destroyed or damaged by the crash could number 60, according to local reports. Other reports said the crash was 1.5 to 2 km from the runway.

One crew member is believed to have survived and a number of injured people have been transported to hospital.

Kyrgyzstan's transport ministry said there were five people on board.

According to the BBC, a number of children are reported to be among those dead.

They also report that the Kyrgyz government said the plane was being operated by Turkish Airlines, but it belonged to Turkish carrier ACT.

"Our condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives in the tragic incident involving an ACT Airlines aircraft in Kyrgyzstan," Turkish Airlines shared on Twitter.