A female passenger on an Air Astana flight from Astana to Almaty to Istanbul has reported that $450 and a bank card disappeared from a backpack she was carrying as hand luggage. She described the incident on the social network Threads under the handle @margaritha, then contacted police and the airline's support service, infohub.kz reports.
According to the woman, the money and card vanished during the flight. She suspects the theft may have occurred while she was watching a movie and not paying attention to her surroundings. The passenger stressed that before boarding, the money was definitely in a wallet tucked deep inside the backpack.
The Kazakh woman reported the incident to police on 102 and also contacted Air Astana's support service. The airline commented on her complaint and expressed regret over what happened, explaining where passengers should turn in such cases.
"In this matter, you must file a statement with law enforcement agencies so that they can identify those involved in this act, punish the guilty parties and compensate the damage. Investigating cases of theft from passengers' baggage falls within the competence of law enforcement agencies. The airline is not authorized to conduct investigations of this kind. If the crime was committed outside the Republic of Kazakhstan, or the place where the crime was committed cannot be determined, or if the crimes were committed in different locations, the case is considered by a court at the place where the investigation is completed," the company said in its response.
The Transport Police Department said operational and search measures are being carried out in connection with the incident. The department noted that steps are currently being taken to establish all the circumstances of what happened, as well as to identify and detain the person involved in the offense.
Police urged citizens to be vigilant and to keep a close eye on the safety of personal belongings and valuables during air travel. They recommend keeping cash, bank cards, documents and other valuables with you, not leaving them unattended and not placing them in easily accessible parts of carry-on luggage.