EURASIAN STAR LOGO
International Affairs KZ

Dozens killed as Azerbaijani passenger plane crashes in Kazakhstan

A passenger plane flying from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Russia has crashed near the city of Aqtau in western Kazakhstan with 67 people on board, Kazakh authorities said on December 25, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported.

Authorities said that dozens of people had been killed but that there were several survivors.

According to preliminary information, 28 survivors, including two children, were taken to hospital, Kazakhstan’s Emergency Ministry said.

Earlier, the Kazakh Health Ministry’s regional department reported that five of the survivors who were admitted to the regional hospital were in intensive care.

The Emergencies Ministry said in a statement that rescue teams were at the location of the crash and that fire services had put out a blaze at the site.

Videos from the scene of the crash showed the aircraft lying upside on the ground with part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the rest of the plane.

Azerbaijan Airlines said the Embraer 190 aircraft, with flight number J2-8243, had been flying from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, but was forced to make an emergency landing approximately three kilometers from Aqtau.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known.

A spokesperson for Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said that preliminary information showed that the pilot had decided to divert to Aqtau after a bird strike on the plane led to “an emergency situation on board.”

Media reports said earlier that the plane had been rerouted due to fog in Grozny.

The passengers are citizens of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia, local news agencies reported.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *