More than 30 people survive Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Kazakhstan
More than 30 people survive Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Kazakhstan
Share:
Aircraft carrying 62 passengers and five crew was en route from Baku to Grozny in Chechnya. 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 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.
More than 50 rescuers rushed to the scene and 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.
