A passenger plane has crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. The plane crashed en route from Azerbaijan to Russia.
Kazakh authorities said the plane was carrying a total of 62 passengers and five crew members. 32 of them were rescued alive.
The crashed plane was an Embraer 190 model and was owned by Azerbaijan Airlines. Video footage shows the plane burst into flames and billowing thick black smoke as it hit the beach. In the video, injured passengers can be seen climbing out of the remaining part of the fuselage.
Kazakhstan’s Emergencies Ministry said in a statement that the fire service was able to put out the fire and the injured were admitted to a nearby hospital. Two children are also among the injured. Apart from this, till the writing of the report, the work of recovering the dead bodies was going on.
Azerbaijan Airlines said the plane was traveling from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechnya region. It crashed about three kilometers from Aktau Airport while attempting an emergency landing.
The plane was flying along the western coast of the Caspian Sea. Its flight tracking suddenly ceased and it was later seen again on the East Coast. The plane crashed near Aktau airport after hovering for a while.
The Kazakh government has formed an investigative commission to investigate the cause of the accident. Kazakhstan will work jointly with Azerbaijan in the investigation. According to preliminary information, the plane attempted to make an emergency landing due to a collision with a bird, the Russian Air Transport Agency said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev have expressed deep grief over the incident. Aliyev canceled plans to attend a conference in Russia and returned home.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said in a statement that some of the injured were in serious condition. He prayed for their speedy recovery.
Source: Reuters