DEPO PHOTOS/AP

A Turkish Airlines cargo plane from Hong Kong has crashed in Kyrgyzstan, killing at least 32 people, most of them on the ground, say officials, the BBC reports.

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.

It came down at 07:31 local time (01:31 GMT) in the populated area.