LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Let’s all begin to build the renaissance of our country
with free will, good intentions and strong determination, men, women, Muslims and Christians.” Mohammed Badie, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt Article, 6A Kazakh military jet crashes; 27 killed
MOSCOW - Kazakhstan’s acting border-service chief was among 27 people killed in a military plane crash Tuesday near a southern city, another blow to the agency after he was appointed in June to deal with the aftermath of a mass killing involving a conscript.
The Russian-made An-72 crashed about 12 miles from the city of Shymkent near the border with Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan’s Committee for National Security said in a statement.
The fatalities included a crew of seven and 20 border guards, including the acting head of the ex-Soviet nation’s border-protection service, Col. Turganbek Stambekov, the statement said.
Without specifying further details, authorities said an investigation was opened into the crash. No cause was given, but southern Kazakhstan over recent weeks has been buffeted by winds, heavy snows and low temperatures, causing widespread flight delays.
Stambekov was appointed acting head of the border service in June after a mass killing of 14 frontier troops in a remote Kazakh outpost near China the month before.
In Burma, 2 die
in road landing
RANGOON, Burma - A flight packed with Christmas tourists crash-landed on a road in central Burma on Tuesday, killing at least two people and injuring 11, officials said.
Four foreigners were among the injured on the Air Bagan flight. The Information Ministry initially identified the fatalities as three Burmese citizens: a tour guide and an 11-year-old child on board the plane, and a man riding a motorcycle on the road where the plane came down. A later report from the airline mentioned only two deaths.
The flight was carrying 71 people, including 48 foreign passengers, from the city of Mandalay to Heho airport in Shan State, the gateway to a popular tourist destination, Inle Lake, Air Bagan said in the statement Tuesday evening that revised earlier figures.
Airport officials in Heho said that injured passengers were taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Taunggyi for treatment.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 12/26/2012