About 70 dead in Kyrgyz plane crash

By Olga Dzyubenko

BISHKEK (Reuters) - About 70 people, including members of a teenage basketball team, died on Sunday when a Kyrgyz airliner crashed in a ball of flames shortly after take-off from the Central Asian state's main airport.

Kyrgyz officials, who issued conflicting reports on the death toll and number of people aboard the Boeing 737-200, said the blaze was so fierce many victims could not be identified.

"When the plane caught fire, one of its doors was blocked and everyone rushed to another door," a government spokesman said.

"There was a stampede and many of those on board will only be able to be identified using DNA analysis, they were simply carbonised."

The Boeing, owned by local private carrier Itek-Air, was chartered by an Iranian company and bound for Tehran.

"It took off and reported a technical problem and tried to return to the airport," said a spokeswoman for Manas airport, which lies 30 km (20 miles) from Bishkek.

Kyrgyz officials, including Prime Minister Igor Chudinov, rushed to the airport for an emergency meeting.

Chudinov said afterwards that initial reports suggested the plane had suffered a sudden loss of cabin pressure, causing the pilot to request an emergency landing.