An Azerbaijan Airlines plane bound for Russia has crashed several kilometers away, and dozens are feared dead.
Dozens of passengers are feared dead after an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, reports said.
An Embraer 190 passenger plane en route from Azerbaijan to Russia had 62 passengers and five crew members on board, Kazakh authorities announced, adding that 32 survivors had been rescued.
Flight J2-8243 had flown hundreds of kilometers from its planned route when it crashed on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea. Officials did not immediately explain why it fell into the sea, but the accident happened shortly after drone strikes in southern Russia. Drone activity has closed airports in the area in the past and a nearby Russian airport on the plane’s flight path was closed on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, those in charge of transportation in Russia, said it was an emergency that may have been caused by a bird strike.
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In this photo taken from a video released by Mangystau district administration, the wreckage of an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lies on the ground near Aktau airport, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, December 25, 2024. (Mangystau District Administration/AP Photo)
Those on board the plane included 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russians, six Kazakhs and three Kyrgyz citizens, according to Kazakh officials.
Russian news agency Interfax reported that both pilots died in the crash, citing initial tests by emergency workers at the scene. The news agency also quoted health officials who said that so far four bodies have been found in the accident.
29 survivors, including two children, were admitted to the hospital, the minister told the Russian news agency, RIA Novosti, the Associated Press reported. Many passengers have yet to be accounted for.
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More than 30 people are feared dead following an accident near the Kazakh city of Aktau. (Photo by Azamat Sarsenbayev/AP)
The video of the accident showed the plane descending at high speed before bursting into flames when it hit the beach, followed by thick black smoke, Reuters reported. Bloody and bruised passengers could be seen tripping over a piece of the fuselage that remained intact.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, who was on a trip to Russia, returned to Azerbaijan when he heard the news about the accident, the press service of the president said. Aliyev was due to attend an informal meeting of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States, an organization of former Soviet states established after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in St.
Emergency workers at the crash site of the Azerbaijan airliner on Dec. 25, 2024. (Photo by Azamat Sarsenbayev/AP)
Aliyev expressed his condolences to the families of the victims in a statement on social media.
“It is with great sadness that I offer my condolences to the families of the deceased and wish the injured a speedy recovery,” he wrote.
He also signed a declaration announcing December 26 as a day of mourning in Azerbaijan.
The plane was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus, the Associated Press reported. (Mangystau District Administration/AP Photo)
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In a statement, Azerbaijan Airlines said it would keep members of the public informed and change its social media banners to black.
“We ask God to grant mercy to the passengers and sailors who lost their lives,” said a statement translated by X. “Their pain is our pain. We wish the injured a speedy recovery.”
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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