Azerbaijan Airlines crash in Aktau: Death toll rises to 38, says Kazakh deputy PM

A passenger aeroplane has crashed in Aktau area of western Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan’s deputy Prime Minister said more than 38 people are likely dead. The Kazakhstan ministry said at least 32 survived the crash.

It was an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet, flying from Azerbaijan to Russia. The Kazakh authorities said the plane had 67 people on board — 62 passengers and five crew members.

A Reuters report said the ill-fated Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 had flown hundreds of miles off its scheduled route to crash on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea. It also quoted Russia’s aviation watchdog as saying that it was an emergency that might have been caused by a bird strike.

Officials examining the mishap did not immediately explain why it had crossed the sea, but the crash came shortly after drone strikes hit southern Russia. Drone activity has shut airports in the area in the past and at least one airport there was closed on Wednesday morning, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, videos claiming to show the incident of the crash surfaced on social media and over the internet. Videos showed the plane descending rapidly before bursting into flames as it hit the seashore, and thick black smoke then rising.

In some of the videos, bloodied and bruised passengers could also be seen stumbling from a piece of the fuselage that had remained intact.

The aeroplane belonged to the Azerbaijan Airlines and was flying from Azeri capital Baku to Grozny in Russia, according to AFP.

“A plane doing the Baku-Grozny route crashed near the city of Aktau. It belongs to Azerbaijan Airlines,” Kazakhstan’s transport ministry said on Wednesday (December 25).

The AP quoted the airlines as saying that the aircraft crashed while making an emergency landing.

Of the 62 passengers, 37 were Azeris, 16 Russians, six Kazakhs, and three were Kyrgyzstani citizens, the news agency quoted the airlines as saying.