All 27 passengers on board An-72 aircraft that crashed on December 25 near Shymkent (the administrative center of the South Kazakhstan Region) were killed, including Turganbek Stambekov, the head of the Kazakh Border Services Department, the National Security Committee (KNB) says in today's press release.

"All 27 people onboard were killed in the plane crash, including seven crewmembers and also Colonel Stambekov, the head of the Border Services Department, his accompanying officers from the command center of the Department and officers from the regional department "Ontustik" who had been in Astana on December 25 to take part in a meeting of the Military Council of the Border Services Department," the press release says.

Plane crash investigators are already working on scene.

KNB Chair Nurtai Abykayev has arrived in Shymkent.

"The An-72 aircraft was manufactured in December 1990. Its last overall maintenance was in 2012 at the Antonov maintenance center in Ukraine. All crewmembers were experienced pilots," reads the press release.