On this picture taken from a video launched by the administration of Mangystau area, the wreckage of Azerbaijan Airways Embraer 190 lies on the bottom close to the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. —The Administration of Mangystau Area by way of AP
ASTANA, Kazakhstan — An Azerbaijani airliner with 67 folks onboard crashed Wednesday close to the Kazakhstani metropolis of Aktau, killing 38 folks and leaving 29 survivors, a Kazakh official stated.
Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbaev disclosed the figures whereas assembly with Azerbaijani officers, the Russian information company Interfax reported.
The Embraer 190 was en route from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to the Russian metropolis of Grozny within the North Caucasus when it was diverted and tried an emergency touchdown 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Aktau, Azerbaijan Airways stated.
Talking at a information convention, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that it was too quickly to invest on the explanations behind the crash, however stated that the climate had compelled the aircraft to vary from its deliberate course.
“The knowledge offered to me is that the aircraft modified its course between Baku and Grozny as a result of worsening climate situations and headed to Aktau airport, the place it crashed upon touchdown,” he stated.
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Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, stated that preliminary info confirmed that the pilots diverted to Aktau after a fowl strike led to an emergency on board.
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Based on Kazakh officers, these aboard the aircraft included 42 Azerbaijani residents, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhs and three Kyrgyzstan nationals. Azerbaijan’s prosecutor normal’s workplace beforehand stated that 32 of the 67 folks on board had survived the crash, however advised journalists that the quantity wasn’t remaining.
The Related Press couldn’t instantly reconcile the distinction between the numbers of survivors given by Kazakhstan and Azerbaijani officers.
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airways Embraer 190 lays on the bottom close to the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. —AP Photograph/Azamat Sarsenbayev
Cell phone footage circulating on-line appeared to indicate the plane making a steep descent earlier than smashing into the bottom in a fireball. Different footage confirmed a part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the remainder of the plane, mendacity upside within the grass. The footage corresponded to the aircraft’s colours and its registration quantity.
A number of the movies posted on social media confirmed survivors dragging fellow passengers away from the wreckage.
Flight-tracking information from FlightRadar24.com confirmed the plane making what seemed to be a determine eight as soon as nearing the airport in Aktau, its altitude transferring up and down considerably during the last minutes of the flight earlier than impacting the bottom.
FlightRadar24 individually stated in a web-based publish that the plane had confronted “robust GPS jamming,” which “made the plane transmit unhealthy ADS-B information,” referring to the knowledge that permits flight-tracking web sites to comply with planes in flight. Russia has been blamed up to now for jamming GPS transmissions within the wider area.
Azerbaijan Airways stated it will maintain members of the general public up to date and adjusted its social media banners to stable black. It additionally stated that it will droop flights between Baku and Grozny, in addition to between Baku and town of Makhachkala in Russia’s North Caucasus, till its investigation into the crash has been concluded.
Azerbaijan’s state information company, Azertac, stated that an official delegation of Azerbaijan’s emergency conditions minister, the deputy normal prosecutor and the vice chairman of Azerbaijan Airways had been despatched to Aktau to conduct an “on-site investigation.”
Aliyev, who was touring to Russia, returned to Azerbaijan on listening to information of the crash, the president’s press service stated. He was as a result of attend an off-the-cuff assembly of leaders of the Commonwealth of Impartial States, a bloc of former Soviet nations based after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in St. Petersburg.
Aliyev expressed his condolences to the households of the victims in an announcement on social media. “It’s with deep disappointment that I specific my condolences to the households of the victims and need a speedy restoration to these injured,” he wrote.
He additionally signed a decree declaring Dec. 26 a day of mourning in Azerbaijan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Aliyev on the telephone and expressed his condolences, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov advised reporters.
Talking on the CIS assembly in St. Petersburg, Putin additionally stated that Russia’s Emergency Ministry despatched a aircraft with gear and medical employees to Kazakhstan to help with the aftermath of the crash.
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Kazakhstani, Azerbaijani and Russian authorities stated they had been investigating the crash. Embraer advised The Related Press in an announcement that the corporate is “prepared to help all related authorities.” —AP
