A cargo plane attempting to land at Kyrgyzstan's main airport in thick fog crashed in a populated area Monday, authorities at the airport said, leaving at least 32 people dead.

The majority of the dead are from the nearby village of Dacha-Suu where the plane -- a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul from Hong Kong via Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek -- crashed at around 7:30 a.m. local time (01:30 GMT), a spokesman for the country's emergency services ministry told AFP.

Four pilots also died, the health ministry said.

Around 15 houses have been damaged by the crash, according to the emergency services ministry, which said that the crash caused fires that have now been localised.

The country's Manas airport has been closed, and flights cancelled until evening at the earliest, airport authorities said.

(Source: AFP)