INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A survivor of the plane crash in Kazakhstan has told Sky News of how brave passengers pulled victims from the wreckage, despite fearing the
aircraft could set alight.Aslan Nazaraliyev had been sitting in the 15th row of the Bek Air plane when it crashed into a building shortly
after take-off, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens.He described how, on impact, the aircraft crushed in front of him "as if
someone started squeezing a tin can".However, he said it stopped just in front of him at the 14th row.The survivor said the plane had begun
"swaying" and "vibrating" seconds after take-off."I started immediately tightening my seat belt because I thought it was something [that]
went wrong," Mr Nazaraliyev said."After maybe 15, 20 seconds, it started escalating
Then it got so bad that it started at some point going downwards."So at that time I realised that we will 100% hit the ground."As the plane
started to crumple, he described seeing a man in the row in front of him hit by the plane's ceiling, "smashing him with all that
power".Image:The plane crashed into a building near Almaty Airport
Pic: Ministry of Internal AffairsMr Nazaraliyev said that the plane hitting the building had also caused concrete to fall onto the
aircraft.Those sitting in the front rows were "injured very badly and most of them died on the spot", he said.The survivor said it had taken
emergency services around 20 minutes to reach the site of the crash but passengers had already begun rescuing others from the plane.He and
others escaped through an emergency exit before helping those who had been injured at the front of the aircraft."It was dark still
There were lots of screams
Someone was asking for help, someone was just crying," he said.He continued: "A couple of guys pulled out four or five people - a couple of
them were definitely already dead."Mr Nazaraliyev saw one man with catastrophic chest injuries and another whose leg had almost been cut
off.He said there were fears the plane could set alight as it had a full tank of fuel, so the main priority was to get everyone out of the
aircraft.The plane had been carrying 93 passengers and five crew members when it took off from Almaty International Airport.It was bound for
Kazakhstan's capital, Nur-Sultan, but hit a concrete fence near the runway and collided with a building, believed to be a house, in the
village of Almerek.Video footage showed a baby in a white snowsuit being pulled from the wreckage following the crash.Moment infant carried
from plane wreckage It is not clear whether the child survived.Kazakhstan's deputy prime minister Roman Sklyar said two possible reasons for
the crash were pilot error and technical failure.Other passengers had described the aircaft "shaking" and "jolting".
