An Azerbaijani passenger plane with 67 people on board crashed today (Wednesday) near the Kazakh city of Aktau, at least 32 people survived, according to officials. There may be more than 30 people who have died, according to the information available so far.
The Ministry of emergencies of Kazakhstan, in a statement via the “Telegram” application, said that the number of crew of the aircraft was 5 people. The ministry told the official Russian news agency RIA Novosti that the survivors, including two children, were taken to the hospital, as reported by The “Associated Press”.
The ministry had said earlier on Wednesday:” according to preliminary information, there are 25 survivors, including 22 people who were taken to the hospital, ” explaining that 150 rescue personnel were sent to the crash site. Earlier, the medical authorities had reported that 14 people had survived.
Earlier on Wednesday, the authorities announced that a passenger plane belonging to the company “Azerbaijan Airlines” crashed in western Kazakhstan while on a flight from Baku to Grozny, the capital of the Russian Caucasian Republic of Chechnya.
The Kazakh Emergencies Ministry said that the plane crashed near the city of Aktau, in the west of the country, according to “Agence France-Presse”.
Azerbaijan Airlines has noted that the aircraft, an Embraer 190, “carried out an emergency landing”.
For his part, the spokesman of the “Kremlin”, Dmitry Peskov, said that Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his condolences to the president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, on the victims of the plane crash, on Wednesday.
“Azerbaijani President Aliyev, unfortunately, had to leave St. Petersburg (where he was attending a summit), and Putin called him and offered his condolences to the victims of the crash of the Azerbaijani plane in Aktau,”Peskov continued.
“We express our deepest sympathy to those who lost their relatives and friends in the plane crash, and we wish a speedy recovery to those who survived,”he added.
The Azerbaijani transport ministry said that among the passengers of the plane were 37 people from Azerbaijan, 6 people from Kazakhstan, 3 from Kyrgyzstan and 16 from Russia.
“According to the available information, 32 people survived the crash,”the public prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan said in a statement. She added: “We cannot reveal any results of the investigation at the moment .
All possible scenarios are being checked, the necessary competent analyzes are being carried out”.
“An investigation team led by the deputy prosecutor general of Azerbaijan has been sent to Kazakhstan and is working at the crash site,”she noted.
The Kazakh Emergencies Ministry said its rescuers extinguished a fire that broke out after the crash. “According to preliminary information, 28 survivors, including two children, have been taken to the hospital,”the ministry added.
In turn, the Ministry of Health reported that a special plane was sent from the Kazakh capital Astana with specialized doctors on board to treat the injured. Earlier, local medical authorities in Kazakhstan reported that 14 people survived and were taken to the hospital, 5 of them were placed in intensive care.
“The president ordered the immediate start of urgent measures to investigate the causes of the disaster,”Aliyev’s office reported. Aliyev said in a post on social networks: “I offer my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the accident… I wish the injured a speedy recovery”.
First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, who also holds the post of vice-president, expressed “great sadness over the news of the tragic loss of lives in the plane crash near Aktau”. She said on Instagram: “I extend my sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims . I wish them strength and patience! I also wish a speedy recovery to the injured”.
For his part, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said via Telegram: “I express my condolences to the relatives of the passengers of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane who died.
According to the “flight radar” website for tracking air traffic, the plane flew over the Caspian Sea far from its normal course, then carried out a rotation in the airspace of the region, and eventually crashed. The Kazakh authorities announced that they had opened an investigation into the incident.
