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Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane crashes near the airport, dozens of passengers expected to die Aktau, Kazakhstan Wednesday, according to reports.
Kazakhstan authorities announced that there were 62 passengers and five crew members on board the Embraer 190 flight from Azerbaijan to Russia, and said 32 survivors had been rescued.
Flight J2-8243 deviated hundreds of miles from its intended route and crashed across the Caspian Sea. Officials did not immediately explain why the plane crossed the ocean, but shortly after the crash drone attack Attack on southern Russia. Drone activity has closed airports in the region in the past, and the nearest Russian airport in the plane’s flight path was closed on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, Russia’s aviation regulator said the incident was an emergency and may have been caused by a bird strike.
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The wreckage of an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lies on the ground near Aktau Airport, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in this photo captured in a video released by the Mangisto regional government. (Mangisto Regional Government/AP Photo)
The people on board included 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian citizens, Six Kazakhstan and three Kyrgyzstan citizens, according to Kazakhstani officials.
Russia’s Interfax news agency reported that both pilots died in the crash, citing initial assessments by first responders at the scene. The news agency also quoted medics as saying four bodies had been recovered from the accident so far.
The ministry told Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti that a total of 29 survivors, including two children, had been taken to hospital, the Associated Press reported. The whereabouts of many passengers have yet to be determined.
The crash near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, is expected to kill more than 30 people. (Azamat Sarsenbayev/AP Photo)
According to Reuters, video of the crash showed the plane descending rapidly and catching fire after hitting the coast, followed by thick black smoke. Bloodied and bruised passengers could be seen stumbling over intact pieces of the fuselage.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who was traveling to Russia, returned to Azerbaijan after hearing news of the crash, the Azerbaijani presidential press service said. Aliyev had planned to attend an informal meeting in St. Petersburg of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the former Soviet bloc of states established after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
On December 25, 2024, emergency rescue workers were at the site of a passenger plane crash in Azerbaijan. (Azamat Sarsenbayev/AP Photo)
Aliyev issued a statement on social media expressing condolences to the families of the victims.
“It is with deep sadness that I express my condolences to the families of the victims and wish the injured a speedy recovery,” he wrote.
He also signed a decree declaring December 26 as a day of mourning in Azerbaijan.
The plane was flying from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus, the Associated Press reported. (Mangisto Regional Government/AP Photo)
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Azerbaijan Airlines said in a statement that it would update the public on the situation and change its social media banners to solid black.
“We ask God to have mercy on the passengers and crew who lost their lives,” translated The statement about X says. “Their pain is our pain. We wish the injured a speedy recovery.”
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
