Passenger plane bound for Russia from Azerbaijan crashes in Kazakhstan, fearful of killing many

Maria Gordeeva

ASTANA (Reuters) – An Embraer airliner flying from Azerbaijan to Russia crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday with 62 passengers and five crew members on board, Kazakh authorities announced. 27 people survived.

Unconfirmed footage of the crash showed the plane, operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, burst into flames as it hit the ground, with thick smoke rising later. Bloodied and bruised passengers could be seen stumbling over intact pieces of the fuselage.

The Central Asian country’s emergencies ministry said in a statement that fire stations had extinguished the blaze and survivors, including three children, were being treated at a nearby hospital.

Azerbaijan Airlines said the Embraer 190 aircraft, flight number J2-8243, was originally scheduled to fly from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechnya, but was forced to make an emergency landing about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the Kazakh city. at.

Russian news agencies said the plane had changed its route due to heavy fog in Grozny.

Kazakh authorities said they had begun investigating different possible versions of what happened, including technical issues, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.

Russia’s aviation regulator said in a statement that preliminary information showed the pilot decided to make an emergency landing after encountering a bird strike.

According to the Russian Satellite News Agency, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was returning from Russia after the crash. He was originally scheduled to attend the Russian summit on Wednesday.

Kremlin-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov expressed condolences in a statement and said those being treated in hospitals were in extremely serious condition and that he and others would pray for their speedy recovery.

(Reporting by Mariya Gordeyeva and Tamara Vaal in Astana, Nailia Bagirova and Bro in Moscow; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)