An Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday, killing more than 30 passengers, and aviation and Ukrainian authorities are blaming Russia for the deadly crash, reports say. .
Kazakh authorities said the Embraer 190 passenger plane, which was flying from Azerbaijan to Russia, had 62 passengers and five crew members on board. As of Wednesday afternoon, authorities said 38 people were dead and 29 survivors were injured.
Flight J2-8243 deviated hundreds of miles from its planned route and crashed on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea. Officials did not immediately explain why it had crossed the sea, but the crash came shortly after drone attacks hit southern Russia. Drone activity has shut down airports in the region in the past, and the nearest Russian airport in the plane's flight path was closed on Wednesday morning.
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In this photo taken from a video released by the Mangistau regional administration, the wreckage of an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lies on the ground near Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. (Mangistau Regional Administration/AP Photo)
Aviation security company Osprey Flight Solutions said the plane was “likely shot down by Russian military air defense systems.” The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday night.
“The footage of the wreckage and the state of the airspace security environment in southwestern Russia indicate that the aircraft may have been hit by some form of anti-aircraft fire,” Matt Boley, the Osprey's chief intelligence officer, said in an interview. .
Ukrainian national security official Andriy Kovalenko also told XPost on Wednesday that the cause of the crash was “Russian air defense systems.”
Meanwhile, Russian aviation surveillance authorities said the emergency may have been caused by a bird strike.
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Kazakh officials said there were 42 Azerbaijanis, 16 Russians, six Kazakhs and three Kyrgyz nationals on board.
Russian news agency Interfax reported that both pilots died in the crash, citing preliminary findings from emergency personnel at the scene. The news agency also cited medical personnel who said four bodies had been recovered from the crash so far.
Survivors include two children who are hospitalized, the ministry told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, the Associated Press reported.
More than 30 people are feared dead after a crash near the Kazakh city of Aktau. (Azamat Sarsenbayev/AP Photo)
According to Reuters, footage of the crash showed the plane descending rapidly, hitting the beach and bursting into flames, followed by thick plumes of black smoke. Bloodied and bruised passengers could be seen staggering from the part of the plane that remained intact.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who was visiting Russia, returned to Azerbaijan after hearing the news of the crash, according to the presidential press office. Aliyev was scheduled to attend an informal summit in St. Petersburg of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a bloc of former Soviet states established after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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Emergency workers at the scene of the Azerbaijani airliner crash on Wednesday. (Azamat Sarsenbayev/AP Photo)
Aliyev expressed his condolences to the families of the victims in a statement on social media.
“With deep sadness, I would like to express my condolences to the families of the victims, and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured,'' he wrote.
Aliyev also signed a decree declaring December 26 as a day of mourning in Azerbaijan.
The plane was on its way from Azerbaijan's capital Baku to Grozny, a city in Russia's North Caucasus, according to the Associated Press. (Mangistau Regional Administration/AP Photo)
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Azerbaijan Airlines said in a statement that it would keep the public informed and change its social media banners to solid black.
“We pray for God's mercy on the passengers and crew who lost their lives.” The statement regarding X said: “Their pain is our pain as well. We pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.”
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
