Watch | Passenger plane crashes in Kazakhstan moments after requesting emergency landing

Many feared dead in a plane crash near Kazakhstan’s Aktau airport on Wednesday. The incident occurred when Azerbaijani airline’s Embraer 190 aircraft with 67 passengers and five crew on board was enroute Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chenchnya, from Azeri capital Baku.

The ill-fated aircraft reportedly requested an emergency landing approximately 3 kms from Aktau after it had been rerouted due to fog in Gronzy. The Kazakh authorities have confirmed 32 survivors from the plane crash.

Why the plane had to make emergency landing?

Russia’s aviation watchdog, in a statement, said that preliminary information suggested the pilot had decided to make an emergency landing after a bird strike.

Kazakhstan’s emergency ministry said that the aircraft, belonging to Azerbaijan Airlines, had circled the airport multiple times before the crash.

32 people survive the crash

Kazakhstan’s emergency ministry said 32 of those onboard the aircraft survived the crash. More than 20 of them were hospitalised for treatment of the injuries suffered during the crash.

BREAKING: Azerbaijan Airlines flight traveling from Baku to Grozny crashes in Aktau, Kazakhstan, after reportedly requesting an emergency landing pic.twitter.com/hB5toqEFe2

— RT (@RT_com) December 25, 2024

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“Five are admitted in intensive care,” a report by AFP quoted the health ministry’s regional department saying in a statement.

THE AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES PLANE, FLYING FROM BAKU TO GROZNY, CRASHED IN KAZAKHSTAN

What is known so far:

◾️There were 62 passengers and 5 crew members on board

◾️6 people survived the crash

◾️The crash was caused by a collision with a flock of birds

◾️52 rescuers and 11… https://t.co/W9QESu2HBl pic.twitter.com/kq44HC5H2F

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) December 25, 2024

Videos going viral on social media show the plane, which was operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, bursting into flames as it hit the ground and thick black smoke then rising.

Also Read: Kazakhstan: Plane crashes in Aktau, authorities say 60 killed

The Kazakhstan emergencies ministry said in a statement that fire services had put out the blaze and that survivors were being treated at a nearby hospital.

First video has appeared from the crash site of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Kazakhstan's Aktau.

The plane was traveling from Baku to Grozny, and reportedly requested emergency landing before the tragedy happened. pic.twitter.com/PTi1IWtz1w

— RT (@RT_com) December 25, 2024

The cause of the crash is yet to ascertained with the authorities in Kazakhstan saying that they had begun looking into different possible versions of what could have happened, including a technical problem.