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An Azerbaijan Airlines flight carrying 62 passengers and five crew members crashed during an emergency landing at a Kazakh airport. 29 survivors, including two children, were taken to hospital.
Videos in local media showed a large explosion after the plane crashed into an empty field. Images from the scene of the accident showed passengers climbing out of the rear fuselage with the help of rescue workers.
The Russian state news agency Ria reported, citing the Kazakh Ministry of Transport, that Azerbaijanis, Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were on board.
Local media reported that nine of those hospitalized were in serious condition and that search and rescue operations were underway.
The plane, an Embraer 190, was en route from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to Grozny in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya, but was diverted to Aktau after flying into heavy fog.
Early media reports suggested that the flight struck a flock of birds, affecting control of the aircraft.
“After a collision with birds due to an emergency situation on board the aircraft, the commander decided to fly to an alternative airfield and Aktau was selected,” Ria reported, citing Russian aviation agency Rosaviatsia. Local media also carried unconfirmed reports of an oxygen cylinder explosion on board, causing many passengers to lose consciousness.
Baku has sent an official delegation to Kazakhstan to investigate the incident, the Azerbaijani news agency APA said. The country’s President Ilham Aliyev left an informal Commonwealth of Independent States summit in Russia to return to Baku. He expressed his condolences to the affected families.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin also expressed his condolences to the Azerbaijani leader.
Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov expressed his condolences to the relatives of the deceased on social media. “We pray to the Almighty for the recovery of the survivors.”
Photos on social media showed relatives gathering at Grozny airport to hear news about their loved ones.
A man at Grozny airport said he had just received a video in which he could see that his nephew survived the crash. “Of course I am very happy,” he told a Ria news reporter.
