An Azerbaijani airliner with 67 individuals onboard crashed Wednesday close to the Kazakhstani metropolis of Aktau, killing 38 individuals and leaving 29 survivors, a Kazakh official mentioned.
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 mentioned.
Talking at a information convention, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev mentioned that it was too quickly to invest on the explanations behind the crash, however mentioned that the climate had compelled the airplane to alter from its deliberate course.
“The knowledge supplied to me is that the airplane modified its course between Baku and Grozny resulting from worsening climate circumstances and headed to Aktau airport, the place it crashed upon touchdown,” he mentioned.
Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, mentioned that preliminary data confirmed that the pilots diverted to Aktau after a fowl strike led to an emergency on board.
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airways Embraer 190 lays on the bottom close to the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024.
AP Picture/Azamat Sarsenbayev
In accordance with Kazakh officers, these aboard the airplane included 42 Azerbaijani residents, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhs and three Kyrgyzstan nationals. Azerbaijan’s prosecutor common’s workplace beforehand mentioned that 32 of the 67 individuals 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.
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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 airplane’s colours and its registration quantity.
Among 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 gave the impression to be a figure-right as soon as nearing the airport in Aktau, its altitude transferring up and down considerably over the past minutes of the flight earlier than impacting the bottom.
FlightRadar24 individually mentioned in an internet put up that the plane had confronted “robust GPS jamming,” which “made the plane transmit dangerous ADS-B information,” referring to the data that permits flight-tracking web sites to observe planes in flight. Russia has been blamed previously for jamming GPS transmissions within the wider area.
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 through AP
Azerbaijan Airways mentioned it might hold members of the general public up to date and altered its social media banners to stable black. It additionally mentioned that it might droop flights between Baku and Grozny, in addition to between Baku and the town of Makhachkala in Russia’s North Caucasus, till its investigation into the crash has been concluded.
Azerbaijan’s state information company, Azertac, mentioned that an official delegation of Azerbaijan’s emergency conditions minister, the deputy common prosecutor and the vp of Azerbaijan Airways have 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 mentioned. He was resulting from attend an off-the-cuff assembly of leaders of the Commonwealth of Impartial States, a bloc of former Soviet international locations based after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in St. Petersburg.
Aliyev expressed his condolences to the households of the victims in a press release on social media. “It’s with deep disappointment that I categorical 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 cellphone and expressed his condolences, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov advised reporters.
Talking on the CIS assembly in St. Petersburg, Putin additionally mentioned that Russia’s Emergency Ministry despatched a airplane with gear and medical employees to Kazakhstan to help with the aftermath of the crash.
Kazakhstani, Azerbaijani and Russian authorities mentioned they have been investigating the crash. Embraer advised The Related Press in a press release that the corporate is “prepared to help all related authorities.”
Related Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Aida Sultanova in London contributed to this report.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
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