Dozens of people are feared dead after a passenger plane crashed in the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan on Wednesday.
The passenger jet was en route from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to Grozny in Russia. The plane went down near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after being diverted due to fog.
There were 62 passengers and five crew members on board the plane, Kazakhstan’s transport ministry said.
The Embraer 190 aircraft, operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, flight number J2-8243, made an emergency landing approximately 3 kilometers [1.8 miles] from Aktau, the plane’s operator said.
Kazakhstan’s emergency ministry said that preliminary reports showed there were a number of survivors from the crash.
Survivors are being treated at a nearby hospital, but information about their injuries remains unclear.
Unverified footage shared on social media shows what appears to be the moment the plane crashed into a field and burst into flames in Aktau, located on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea.
New video shows plane carrying 72 people crashing near Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan. At least 10 survivors pic.twitter.com/SKGdc1vqFa
— BNO News (@BNONews) December 25, 2024
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that 37 Azerbaijani citizens were on board the flight, along with 16 Russians, six from Kazakhstan and three from Kyrgyzstan. It is not known what caused the crash.
Kazakhstan’s emergencies ministry said in a statement: “A total of 52 rescuers from the Kazakh Emergencies Ministry and 11 pieces of equipment arrived at the crash site. Upon arrival, they saw the plane in flames. Firefighters are now extinguishing it. The information about the injured is being clarified, but according to preliminary data there are survivors.”
Azerbaijan Airlines said: “There were 67 people on board, including 62 passengers and 5 crew members. There were no children among the passengers, and information about the injured will be provided shortly. According to the information, there are survivors who are receiving initial medical assistance. Contacts are being established with the Kazakh authorities, and the necessary operational support is being provided by Kazakhstan’s emergency rescue agencies at the scene.”
Flight Radar 24, an air traffic social media account, posted on X, formerly Twitter: “#J28243 took off from Baku at 03:55 UTC time and was flying to Grozny. The aircraft was exposed to strong GPS jamming which made the aircraft transmit bad ADS-B data. At 04:40 UTC we lost the ADS-B signal. At 06:07 UTC we picked up the ADS-B signal again before it crashed at 06:28 UTC.”
An investigation to determine the cause of the crash is under way.
Confirmation about the number of survivors and the extent of their injuries will also be released in due course.
