Dozens feared dead after fiery Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Kazakhstan

According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan, a plane crashed in the country, with fears of dozens of fatalities. Authorities stated that there were 67 people on board the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane, including 5 crew members. Regarding the number of survivors, different departments have given figures of 29 or 32 people, which means that there may be more than 30 deaths, but this number was constantly changing throughout the day.

All but 3 of the survivors have been taken to hospitals. Russia's Interfax news agency quoted the ministry as saying that there may be more survivors, and cited medical personnel at the scene as saying that four bodies had been found. The Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan initially stated that 25 people had survived, later revising this number to 27, 28, and then 29 as search and rescue operations continued at the crash site, which reduced the apparent death toll.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan later reported that at least 32 people had survived the crash, adding that this number was not final. Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 was flying from the capital Baku to Grozny, Russia, on Christmas morning (afternoon Australian Eastern time). According to Azerbaijan Airlines, the Embraer 190 aircraft made an emergency landing at Aktau Airport.

The company said that 37 passengers were Azerbaijani citizens. In addition, there were 16 Russian nationals, 6 Kazakh citizens, and 3 Kyrgyz citizens. Approximately 150 emergency rescue personnel were working at the scene and extinguished the fire. A spokesman for the Russian Civil Aviation Authority Rosaviatsia said that preliminary information indicated that the pilots chose to divert to Aktau after the plane suffered a bird strike that led to an "onboard emergency".

Mobile phone video circulating online appeared to show the plane descending steeply before impacting the ground and creating a fireball. Other videos showed a section of the plane's fuselage torn away from the wing and the rest of the aircraft, lying upside down in the grass. These videos match the plane's color and its registration number. Some videos posted on social media showed survivors pulling other passengers from the wreckage of the plane. Flight tracking data from FlightRadar24.com showed that the plane appeared to have drawn a figure-eight pattern as it approached Aktau Airport, with its altitude fluctuating dramatically in the final minutes before impact.

In another online post, FlightRadar24 said that the aircraft experienced "strong GPS interference," which "caused the aircraft to transmit incorrect ADS-B data," referring to information that allows flight tracking websites to track aircraft in flight. In the past, Russia has been accused of interfering with GPS transmissions more broadly in the region. Embraer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday morning. Azerbaijan Airlines said in a statement that it would keep the public informed of the latest developments and changed its social media banner to solid black.

Azerbaijan's state news agency Azertac said that an official delegation consisting of the Azerbaijani Minister of Emergency Situations, the country's Deputy Prosecutor General, and the Vice President of Azerbaijan Airlines had been dispatched to Aktau to conduct an "on-site investigation." Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev returned to Azerbaijan after hearing of the crash, having been en route to Russia. Aliyev had been scheduled to attend an informal meeting of CIS leaders in St. Petersburg, the CIS being a group of former Soviet states formed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

He wrote on social media: "I am deeply saddened, I express my condolences to the families of the victims, and I wish the injured a speedy recovery." He also signed a decree declaring December 26 as a day of mourning in Azerbaijan. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken with Aliyev by phone and expressed his condolences. More information will be released in due course. — Reported by the Associated Press.