A cargo plane crashed on Monday in a residential area just outside the main airport in Kyrgyzstan, killing at least 37 people, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.
Several dozen private houses cluster just outside the metal fence separating the cottages from the runway. Manas has been considerably expanded since the United States began to operate a military installation at the Manas airport, using it primarily for its operations in Afghanistan.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday called his Kyrgyz counterpart, Erlan Abdildaev, to offer Turkey's condolences, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
The plane, which had departed from Hong Kong, belonged to Istanbul-based cargo company ACT Airlines.
According to preliminary information, the plane crashed due to a pilot error, deputy Prime Minister Muhammetkaly Abulgaziev said at a briefing broadcast on state television.
More than a thousand rescue workers were at the scene by late morning in the residential area where 15 houses were destroyed, Deputy Prime Minister Mukhammetkaly Abulgaziyev said.
Images from the scene showed the plane's nose stuck inside a brick house and large chunks of debris scattered around.
Reports of the death toll ranged from 37 people according to emergency officials in the Central Asian nation, to 31 reported by the presidential press office which also said rescue teams had recovered parts of nine bodies. Fifteen people including six children have been hospitalised.
The Turkish Boeing 747 crashed just outside the Manas airport, south of the capital Bishkek, killing people in the residential area adjacent to the airport as well as those on the plane.
According to preliminary information, the plane crashed due to a pilot error.