On Wednesday, December 25, a plane belonging to Azerbaijan Airlines crashed in Kazakhstan, causing casualties and injuries to dozens of people.
According to a report from the French news channel France 24, the Embraer 190 aircraft crashed near the city of Aktau in western Kazakhstan.
The Kazakhstan government stated that the plane crashed on its way from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan on the western coast of the Caspian Sea, to Grozny in southern Russia.
There were 62 passengers and 5 crew members on board. 28 people survived, including two children, who have been urgently taken to hospitals for treatment. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has ordered an immediate investigation into the cause of the crash.
The Kazakhstan Ministry of Transport reported that among the passengers, 37 were from Azerbaijan, 6 from Kazakhstan, 3 from Kyrgyzstan, and 16 from Russia.
Local health officials earlier announced that 14 survivors had been taken to regional hospitals, with 5 of them receiving treatment in the intensive care unit.
Azerbaijan Airlines stated that the aircraft made an emergency landing about three kilometers away from Aktau.
Flight tracking data from Flight Radar indicated that the plane deviated from its regular course across the Caspian Sea and then circled over the area where it eventually crashed.
According to Russian news agencies, the plane had to change its route temporarily due to heavy fog in Grozny.
The emergency services in Kazakhstan reported that the fire that broke out at the time of the crash had been extinguished.
The office of the President of Azerbaijan announced in a statement that President Aliyev cut short his visit to Russia and returned home earlier. He was supposed to attend an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States leaders in Russia.
Azerbaijan’s First Lady and First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva expressed condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims on her Instagram account.
She stated, “I am deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life in the plane crash near Aktau,” and wished for the swift recovery of the injured.