First footage from inside crashed jet moments before it went down as dozens missing
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A video clip reported to be from inside a plane moments before it crashed with 100 people on board has emerged. The doomed Azerbaijan Airlines jet hit the ground and burst into a fireball in Aktau, Kazakhstan in a Christmas Day disaster. The Embraer E190AR sent a distress signal following a collision with a bird as it had intended to reach Grozny in Russia. From the phone camera footage it appears that passengers were aware the plane was going down, as some can be heard praying, while oxygen masks can be seen hanging from above the seats.
The man on board, was talking to the camera and sent a message to his wife. There were at least 32 survivors, although 38 people are confirmed to have died in the smash, according to Kazakhstan Health Minister Akmaral Alnazarova. Seven of the survivors, including two girls aged 11 and 16, are said to be in critical condition.
The pilot tried to bring the jet down safely when he reported a bird strike after being diverted from his original destination due to thick fog. But the plane came down two miles from an airport and the fuselage split, part of it bursting into burst into flames. Videos of stunned passengers climbing from the wreckage were posted online.
The Azerbaijan Airlines flight was carrying 62 passengers and five crew when it crashed in Kazakhstan. Two of the surviving passengers, girls aged 11 and 16, are recovering in hospital. Dramatic footage showed the pilot pulling the plane out of a steep fall as he sought to regain control.
But the aircraft crashed, exploding in flames. The two main sites of the wreck were hundreds of yards apart. A Ministry of Health spokesman said: “The girls are receiving all the necessary medical care in hospitals in the region. Twenty-three ambulance teams were mobilised to the scene of the incident.”.
