A tragic accident occurred this Wednesday in West Kazakhstan. An Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed on Wednesday with 67 people on board, authorities announced, without providing an official death toll. Number of missing, origins of the crash, trajectory of the flight… 20 Minutes takes stock.
Where was the plane going?
According to Azerbaijan Airlines, the Embraer 190 was operating a flight between Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, and Grozny, capital of the Russian Caucasian Republic of Chechnya. But flight registered J2-8243 did not follow its original trajectory, according to FlightRadar24. The plane skirted the west coast before its trajectory was no longer recorded on radar. It then reappeared on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea, opposite Azerbaijan and Russia, near the city of Aktau.
What happened?
After circling a few places at Aktau airport, for reasons still unknown, the plane “made an emergency landing” about three kilometers from the runways. It crashed near this Caspian port, according to the Kazakh Ministry of Emergency Situations, specifying that it had dispatched 150 rescuers to the scene… In videos published by Russian media, we see the plane hit the ground, a gigantic fire breaking out immediately. Other images show the plane on the ground, partially charred, the front of the aircraft having been completely destroyed.
The cause of the crash is not known.
What is the human toll?
Plane crash in Kazakhstan kills 38 of 67 passengers, says senior Kazakh official
According to the airline, 62 passengers and five crew members were on board the plane. “According to initial information, there were 37 Azerbaijani nationals, six Kazakh nationals, three Kyrgyz citizens and 16 Russian citizens” on board the aircraft, said the Kazakh Ministry of Transport.
Where is the investigation?
“We cannot release the results of the investigation at this time. All possible scenarios are being examined, and the necessary expertise is underway,” underlined the Azerbaijani General Prosecutor’s Office. A team of Azerbaijani investigators went to Kazakhstan and are “working on the scene”, according to the same source.
Azerbaijan Airlines initially claimed that the plane had hit a flock of birds, before withdrawing this information.
For its part, the regional department of the Kazakh Ministry of Health reported, in a press release, a “balloon explosion” on board the aircraft, without further details.
The Kazakh Interior Ministry announced the opening of an investigation into “violation of air transport safety and operational rules”.
What are the international reactions?
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who arrived in Russia to participate in an informal summit of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) near St. Petersburg (northwest) with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, decided to interrupt his visit and urgently return to Azerbaijan, according to the press service of the Azerbaijani presidency. Ilham Aliyev declared a day of national mourning in Azerbaijan on Thursday. “I extend my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this crash […] and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured,” said Mr. Aliev on social networks.
Azerbaijan Airlines deplored a “tragic day” by sending its condolences to the relatives of the victims. “Their pain is our pain,” she said in a statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, according to the Kremlin. A plane from the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry is on its way to Aktau with “medical personnel” and equipment, he later told a meeting at the informal CIS summit.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov assured on Telegram “pray to God for healing” of the injured.
