A Turkish Airlines cargo jet, from Hong Kong, crashed near Kyrgyzstan's Manas airport on Monday, killing at least 32 people, the Kyrgyz government said. 

The Boeing 747 crashed into homes near Manas airport, about 25km (15 miles) north of the capital, Bishkek, the Kyrgyz government said.

Several buildings were destroyed, and a number of children are reported to have been among those killed.The flight was making a stopover at Manas en route to Istanbul in Turkey.

The bodies of the pilot and 15 people whose houses were in the vicinity of the crash have been recovered by rescue workers according to the county’s health ministry, Reuters reports.

Local news agency AKIpress reported that the plane, a Boeing 747 which had set off from Hong Kong, crashed at 7:31 a.m. local time.

Visibility was poor because of thick fog at the time, but the cause of the crash has not yet been confirmed.

Images on social media purporting to be of the crash site show fire and smoke rising from the rubble of destroyed buildings.

Image courtesy : http://akipress.com/