An Azerbaijani airliner pinch 67 group onboard collapsed Wednesday adjacent nan Kazakhstani metropolis of Aktau, leaving astatine slightest 32 survivors, according to officials. More than 30 group whitethorn beryllium dead.
The level was en way from nan Azerbaijani superior of Baku to nan Russian metropolis of Grozny successful nan North Caucasus.
Kazakhstan’s Emergency Ministry said successful a Telegram connection that those connected committee included 5 crew. A full of 29 survivors, including 2 children, person been hospitalized, nan ministry told Russia’s authorities news agency, RIA Novosti.
Another Russian news agency, Interfax quoted aesculapian workers arsenic saying that 4 bodies person been recovered and emergency workers astatine nan segment arsenic saying that some pilots, according to a preliminary assessment, died successful nan crash.
The Embraer 190 craft made an emergency landing 3 km from nan city, Azerbaijan Airlines said earlier.
Kazakhstan’s Emergency Ministry initially said 25 group survived nan crash, later revising that number to 27, 28, and past 29 arsenic nan hunt and rescue cognition continued astatine nan tract of nan crash, bringing nan expected decease toll down.
The Prosecutor General’s Office successful Azerbaijan later reported that astatine slightest 32 group survived nan crash, adding that nan number wasn’t final. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said successful a connection that immoderate of them were successful captious condition.
The number of survivors could mean that complete 30 group whitethorn beryllium dead.
According to Kazakhstani officials, those aboard nan level included 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhstani and 3 Kyrgyzstani citizens, it said.
RIA Novosti quoted Russia’s civilian aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, arsenic saying that preliminary accusation showed that nan aviator had chosen to divert to Kazakhstan’s Aktau aft a vertebrate onslaught connected nan craft led to “an emergency business connected board”.
Mobile telephone footage circulating online appeared to show nan craft making a steep descent earlier smashing into nan crushed successful a fireball. Other footage showed portion of its fuselage ripped distant from nan wings and nan remainder of nan aircraft, lying upside successful nan grass. The footage corresponded to nan plane’s colors and its registration number.
Some of nan videos posted connected societal media showed survivors dragging chap passengers distant from nan wreckage of nan plane.
Flight-tracking information from FlightRadar24.com showed nan craft making what appeared to beryllium a figure-right erstwhile nearing nan airdrome successful Aktau, its altitude moving up and down substantially complete nan past minutes of nan formation earlier impacting nan ground.
FlightRadar24 separately said successful an online station that nan craft had faced “strong GPS jamming” which “ made nan craft transmit bad ADS-B data”, referring to nan accusation that allows flight-tracking websites to travel planes successful flight. Russia has been blamed successful nan past for jamming GPS transmissions successful nan wider region.
In a statement, Azerbaijan Airlines said it would support members of nan nationalist updated and changed its societal media banners to coagulated black.
Azerbaijan’s authorities news agency, Azertac, said that an charismatic delegation consisting of Azerbaijan’s emergency situations minister, nan country’s lawman wide prosecutor, and nan vice president of Azerbaijan Airlines had been dispatched to Aktau to behaviour an “on-site investigation”.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who had been walking to Russia, returned to Azerbaijan connected proceeding news of nan crash, nan president’s property work said. Aliyev was owed to be an informal gathering of leaders of nan Commonwealth of Independent States, a bloc of erstwhile Soviet countries founded aft nan illness of nan Soviet Union, successful St. Petersburg.
Aliyev expressed his condolences to nan families of nan victims successful a connection connected societal media. “It is pinch heavy sadness that I definitive my condolences to nan families of nan victims and wish a speedy betterment to those injured,” he wrote.
He besides signed a decree declaring Dec. 26 a time of mourning successful Azerbaijan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said to Aliyev connected nan telephone and expressed his condolences, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Speaking astatine nan CIS gathering successful St. Petersburg, Putin besides said that Russia’s Emergency Ministry sent a level pinch instrumentality and aesculapian workers to Kazakhstan to assistance pinch nan aftermath of nan crash.
Kazakhstani, Azerbaijani and Russian authorities said they were investigating nan crash. Embraer told The Associated Press successful a connection that nan institution is “ready to assistance each applicable authorities.”
——
Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell successful Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Aida Sultanova successful London contributed to this report.