Many feared dead, 32 rescued in plane crash
At least 32 people have survived after a passenger plane operated by Azerbaijan Airlines and carrying 62 passengers and five crew members burst into flames as it crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.
Kazakh authorities said on Wednesday that at least 29 of the survivors, a tally that is believed to include two children, were being treated in a nearby hospital. Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said in a statement that some were in critical condition.
A preliminary assessment suggested that both pilots had died in the crash, Russian news agency Interfax reported. Citing medical workers, the news agency said four bodies had been recovered.
Unverified video of the crash on Wednesday posted on Facebook showed the plane bursting into flames as it hit the ground and thick black smoke then rising. Bloodied and bruised passengers could be seen stumbling from a piece of the fuselage that had remained intact.
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More than 50 rescuers had rushed to the scene and had managed to extinguish a fire at the crash site. Kazakh officials later said that more than 150 emergency workers were at the scene, while the health ministry said a flight was being sent from Astana, the capital, carrying specialist doctors to treat the injured.
“A plane doing the Baku-Grozny route crashed near the city of Aktau. It belongs to Azerbaijan Airlines”, Kazakhstan’s transport ministry said on Telegram.
Russian news agencies said the plane had been flying from Baku to Grozny in Chechnya, but had been rerouted because of fog in Grozny.
Authorities in Kazakhstan said they had begun looking into what had happened, mulling possible explanations such as a technical problem, according to Interfax.
Azerbaijan Airlines, the country’s flag carrier, said the Embraer 190 had made an emergency landing about 2 miles (3km) from Aktau, an oil and gas hub on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea.
It said there were 62 passengers onboard the flight. According to preliminary information, the passengers included 37 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian citizens, six Kazakh citizens, and three Kyrgyz citizens.
The airline said it had set up a hotline for family members of those on the flight. In contrast to reports from the scene, the airline said there were no children among the passengers. “According to the information, there are survivors who are receiving initial medical assistance”, it added.
Russia’s aviation watchdog said in a statement that preliminary information suggested the pilot had decided to make an emergency landing after a bird strike.
Mobile phone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground.
Other footage showed part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the rest of the aircraft, lying upside in the grass. The footage corresponded to the plane’s colours and its registration number.
Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24.com showed the aircraft making what appeared to be a figure-right as it neared the airport in Aktau, its altitude moving up and down substantially over the last minutes of the flight.
In a separate online post FlightRadar24 said the aircraft had faced “strong GPS jamming” which “ made the aircraft transmit bad ADS-B data”, referring to the information that allows flight-tracking websites to follow planes in flight. Russia has been blamed in the past for jamming GPS transmissions in the wider region.
Authorities in Kazakhstan said a government commission had been set up to investigate what had happened, with members of the commission to fly to the site and ensure that the families of those on the flight were getting the help they needed. Kazakhstan would cooperate with Azerbaijan on the investigation, the government said.
Following news of the crash, Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, was cutting short a visit to Russia where he had been due to attend an informal summit of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a grouping of former Soviet nations, his office said in a statement.
Among those who expressed their condolences was Vladimir Putin. The Russian president had sent his condolences to Aliyev, said the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov.
“Unfortunately, Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev was forced to leave St Petersburg [where he had a summit]. Putin has already called him and expressed his condolences in connection with the crash of the Azerbaijani plane in Aktau”, said Peskov. “We deeply sympathise with those who lost their relatives and friends in this plane crash and wish a speedy recovery to all those who managed to survive”.
Azerbaijan’s first lady, Mehriban Aliyeva, who is also the country’s vice-president, said she was “deeply saddened by the news of the tragic loss of lives in the plane crash near Aktau”.
“I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims. Wishing them strength and patience! I also wish a speedy recovery to the injured”, she said on Instagram.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, expressed his condolences in a statement and said those being treated in hospital were in an extremely serious condition and that he and others would pray for their rapid recovery.
