ASTANA, Dec 25 — An Embraer passenger plane flying from Azerbaijan to Russia crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday with 62 passengers and five crew on board, Kazakh authorities announced, saying that 28 people had survived.
Unverified video of the crash showed the plane, which was operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, bursting into flames as it hit the ground and thick black smoke then rising. Bloodied and bruised passengers could be seen stumbling from a piece of the fuselage that had remained intact.
In a statement, Kazakhstan's Emergencies Ministry said that fire services had put out the blaze and that the survivors, including two children, were being treated at a nearby hospital. The bodies of the dead were being recovered.
Azerbaijan Airlines said the Embraer 190 jet, with flight number J2-8243, was flying from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Russia's Chechnya region, but had been forced to make an emergency landing around three km from Aktau in Kazakhstan. The city is on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea from Azerbaijan and Russia.
The Kazakh authorities said a government commission has been set up to investigate what had happened and its members were ordered to fly to the site, and to ensure the families of the dead and injured were getting the help they needed.
Kazakhstan will cooperate with Azerbaijan on the investigation.
Russia's aviation watchdog said in a statement that preliminary information suggested the pilot had decided to make an emergency landing after a bird strike.
Following the crash, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev was returning home from Russia where he had been due to attend a summit on Wednesday, Russia's RIA News Agency reported.
Kremlin-backed head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov expressed his condolences in a statement and said some of those being treated in hospital were in an extremely serious condition, and that he and others would pray for their rapid recovery.
— Reuters
