Dozens of passengers are feared dead after an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed near Azerbaijan airport. Aktau city in Kazakhstan Wednesday, reports said.
The Kazakh authorities announced that the Embraer 190 passenger plane, which was en route from Azerbaijan to Russia, was carrying 62 passengers and a crew of five, and 32 survivors were rescued.
Flight J2-8243 flew hundreds of miles off its scheduled course and crashed on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea. Officials did not immediately explain why she crossed the sea, but the accident occurred shortly after Drone strikes Hit southern Russia. Drone activity has closed airports in the region in the past, and the closest Russian airport on the plane's flight path was closed on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, Russia's aviation watchdog said it was an emergency, possibly caused by a bird collision.
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In this photo from a video released by the Mangystau District Administration, the wreckage of the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 is seen on the ground near Aktau Airport, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, December 25, 2024. (Mangystaw District Administration/AP Photo)
Among those on board were 42 Azerbaijani citizens. 16 Russian citizens Six are Kazakh citizens and three are Kyrgyz citizens, according to Kazakh officials.
Russia's Interfax news agency reported that both pilots were killed in the accident, citing a preliminary assessment by emergency workers at the scene. The news agency also quoted medical workers who reported that four bodies had been recovered from the accident so far.
The ministry told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that a total of 29 survivors, including two children, were taken to hospital. The fate of many passengers has not yet been determined.
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It is feared that more than 30 people have been killed following the accident that occurred near the Kazakh city of Aktau. (Azamat Sarsenbayev/AP Photo)
A video clip of the crash showed the plane landing quickly before it caught fire when it hit the seashore, and then thick black smoke billowed out, Reuters reported. Bloodied and bruised passengers were seen stumbling from a piece of the plane's fuselage that remained intact.
The President's press office stated that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who was traveling to Russia, returned to Azerbaijan upon hearing the news of the plane crash. Aliyev was scheduled to attend an informal meeting of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a bloc of former Soviet countries established after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in St. Petersburg.
Emergency crews at the site of the Azerbaijani plane crash on December 25, 2024. (Azamat Sarsenbayev/AP Photo)
Aliyev expressed his condolences to the families of the victims in a statement posted on social media.
He wrote, “It is with great sadness that I extend my condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.”
He also signed a decree declaring December 26 a day of mourning in Azerbaijan.
The plane was on its way from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus, according to the Associated Press. (Mangystaw District Administration/AP Photo)
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Azerbaijan Airlines said in a statement that it will keep the public updated and changed its social media banners to solid black.
“We ask God for mercy for the passengers and crew members who lost their lives.” A statement on X said. “Their pain is our pain. We wish the wounded a speedy recovery.”
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
