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U.S. Military Refuelling Plane Crashes In Kyrgyzstan Border

The Central Asian country’s emergencies ministry has reported that a U.S. military refuelling plane exploded mid-air and crashed in the southern Kyrgyzstan today. According to … Continue reading U.S. Military Refuelling Plane Crashes In Kyrgyzstan Border


The Central Asian country’s emergencies ministry has reported that a U.S. military refuelling plane exploded mid-air and crashed in the southern Kyrgyzstan today.

According to the ministry, the aircraft took off from the U.S. military transit centre at Kyrgyzstan’s international Manas airport, which the U.S. forces maintain for operations in Afghanistan.

The plane, used for in-flight refuelling, disappeared from radar screens at 3.10 p.m. as it flew near the Kyrgyz village of Chaldovar.

The plane caught fire in the air and crashed according to a ministry official responsible for the Southern Kyrgyz province of Chuisk, where Chaldovar is located 60 km from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek.

Officials did not say where the plane was heading, and the U.S. transit centre has declined to comment.

It was reported that storm clouds over the region could have caused the explosion.

Kyrgyz Emergencies Minister; Kubatbek Boronov said there were about two or five crew members on board the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker.

The ministry said witnesses saw the plane explode in the air, and a local government official said that debris was scattered over a 4 to 5 km area in a nearby mountainous area.

Emergencies ministry officials went to the site where the wreckage was still smouldering.

“As you can probably see, the main part, the chassis, have fallen here. The other fragments are not clearly visible. One engine is over here, and it’s not known where the other engines fell,” said Akylbek Zhumabayev, head of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Transport civil aviation agency.

Mana, established as a military base in December 2001, is used to transport U.S. personnel in and out of Afghanistan and has been used by other international forces fighting in the country.

U.S. forces lease the facility for $60 million a year.

The contract for the transit centre, located near the Manas international airport near the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, will expire in July of next year, as Washington draws down its forces from Afghanistan.