An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane with 67 people on board crashed this Wednesday near the city of Aktau, in Kazakhstan, near the coast of the Caspian Sea, as reported by the Kazakh Ministry of Emergencies. The damaged plane, an Embraer 190, had taken off from Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, and was heading to the Russian city of Grozny, in the Chechnya region, in the south of the country. Kazakh authorities have indicated that there are around twenty survivors who have been transferred to hospitals.
In a statement, the Kazakh Ministry adds that a fire broke out at the scene of the accident. Unverified videos posted on social media show a plane descending sharply and bursting into flames as it falls onto a clear area.
⚡️⚡️ BREAKING: A passenger plane flying from Baku to Grozny has crashed in Kazakhstan, with 72 people on board
The aircraft, operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, went down near the Kazakh city of Aktau, according to local news agency Tengrinews.
The plane carried 67 passengers and…
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv)
The Kazakh Ministry of Emergencies has specified that a total of 67 people were traveling on the plane, 62 passengers and five crew members. Previously, the figure of 72 occupants had been given. Likewise, it has reported that, according to preliminary data, a total of 25 people have survived the accident and have been transferred to hospitals. According to the Russian agency Interfax, most of the passengers are Azerbaijanis.
Russian agencies report that the plane was headed to Grozny, capital of the Chechen Republic, but had been diverted to another destination due to thick fog in the city. The EFE agency reports that the plane sent a distress signal around 8:35 local time (4:35 in mainland Spain) due to “a failure in the control system.” After requesting an emergency landing in Aktau, the plane crashed around 9:30 a.m. (5:30 a.m. in Spain). The airline is considering the hypothesis that the device may have collided with a flock of birds.
