At Least 39 People Killed In Kazakhstan Plane Crash En-Route Russia
Dozens of people were killed in a horrific plane crash in western Kazakhstan on Wednesday that involved a passenger flight operated by Azerbaijan Airlines.
Carrying 67 passengers, the Embraer 190 aircraft drifted off course and crashed close to Aktau, a major oil and gas hub on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea.
28 survivors, including two children, were confirmed by Kazakh officials to have been hospitalized after the incident. On-scene emergency personnel reported putting out a fire that started as soon as the impact occurred.
About three kilometers from Aktau, the aircraft, which was en route from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia, made an emergency landing.
The primary airline of the nation, Azerbaijan Airlines, reported that there were five crew members and 62 passengers on board.
According to the Kazakh transport ministry, 37 of the passengers were from Azerbaijan, six were from Kazakhstan, three were from Kyrgyzstan, and 16 were from Russia.
150 personnel from Kazakhstan’s emergency services were sent to the scene of the collision. To treat the injured, the health ministry sent a special plane with medical experts from Astana, the capital.
The cause of the crash is being investigated by Kazakh authorities. Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, has also requested an urgent investigation, halting his trip to Russia, where he was attending a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
According to flight monitoring data, the aircraft circled close to Aktau before crashing after veering off course over the Caspian Sea.
“I offer my sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims,” said Mehriban Aliyeva, the First Lady and Vice President of Azerbaijan. I hope they have patience and strength! I also hope the injured get well soon.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, also expressed his sympathies to the relatives of the martyrs.
[GNN], [DPNG]
