A military helicopter has crashed in southwestern Kazakhstan, killing all 13 servicemen on board, the defence ministry said Thursday.
The crash involving the Russian-made Mi-8 aircraft occurred on Wednesday, the ministry said in a statement.
“13 servicemen were killed... While performing their military duty,” it said.
Kazakhstan’s new president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev tweeted that he had ordered an investigation into the crash.
A Soviet-era workhorse first built in the 1960s, the Mi-8 helicopter is widely used to transport passengers and supplies to remote sites.