The Boeing-737, bound for Iran, crashed shortly after take off
吉尔吉斯斯坦一架波音737坠毁，到目前为止，至少已经造成71人死亡。
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BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan - A government spokeswoman in Kyrgyzstan said 71 people were dead after a passenger plane bound for Iran crashed shortly after taking off Sunday.
Government spokeswoman Roza Daudova said 24 people survived the crash. She said the known survivors included seven out of 17 members of a high school basketball team in Bishkek.
The Boeing 737 crashed near the Bishkek airport, Maj. Damian Pickart, public affairs officer for the Manas U.S. air base, which is at the airport, told The Associated Press.
An official at Manas International Airport said the crash occurred after the crew reported a technical problem on board about 10 minutes into the flight to Tehran and that the plane was returning to the airport. The official said three were 83 passengers and seven crew members aboard. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to give her name.
At least 14 people rescued from the burning plane were hospitalized, two of them in critical condition, Yelena Bayalinova, a spokeswoman for the Kyrgyz Health Ministry, told AP.
Pickart said the U.S. base sent ambulances and firefighting equipment in response to a Kyrgyz request for help.
EU bans Itek Air
The airport official said the plane belonged to Itek Air, a Kyrgyz company, but was operated by Iran Aseman Airlines. Interfax said the plane was headed to Mashhad in northeastern Iran.
Itek Air has been banned from operating in the airspace of the European Union, according to a list published by the EU July 24.
Kyrgyzstan is a poor, mountainous country west of China. The U.S. air base in the ex-Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan supports operations in nearby Afghanistan.
Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan and the country's largest city, has a population about 1 million and is situated in the northern part of the Central Asian nation. Manas International Airport is about 16 miles northwest of downtown.
The United States has two bases in Central Asia, the one in Bishkek and the other in Uzbekistan, which are leased to support the U.S. military operation against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
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新华网阿拉木图８月２４日电 比什凯克消息：一架波音－７３７客机２４日在吉尔吉斯斯坦首都比什凯克马纳斯国际机场附近坠毁，据初步消息，有人员伤亡。
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目前救援人员已前往飞机可能的坠毁地点展开搜救。
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西班牙航空公司一架客机２０日下午在马德里机场起飞时冲出跑道并起火，救援人员说事故已造成至少４５人死亡，数十人受伤。
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１月１日，印度尼西亚亚当航空公司一架波音７３７－４００型客机从爪哇岛的泗水飞往苏拉威西岛的万鸦老途中失踪，机上１０２人至今下落不明。
５月５日，肯尼亚航空公司一架波音７３７－８００型客机在喀麦隆滨海省坠毁，机上１１４人全部遇难，其中包括５名中国乘客。