Cause unknown 38 dead and 29 survivors in plane crash in Kazakhstan
38 people died in the crash of the passenger plane in Kazakhstan, 29 passengers survived, some of them seriously injured. A state commission of inquiry begins its investigation.
25.12.2024, 17:35
25.12.2024, 18:07
SDA
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- 38 people died in the crash of the passenger plane in Kazakhstan, 29 passengers survived.
- The cause of the crash is not yet known.
- A state commission of inquiry is beginning its investigation.
38 people died in the crash of the passenger plane in Kazakhstan, 29 occupants of the ill-fated aircraft survived, some of them seriously injured. This was stated by Kazakhstan's deputy head of government Qanat Aldabergenuly Bosymbayev in an interview with the Kazakh agency Tengrinews at the scene of the accident near Aktau. A state commission of inquiry has already begun its investigation.
Videos show how the almost uncontrollable plane from Azerbaijan crashed from a low altitude on the coast of the Caspian Sea without reaching the nearby airport in the city of Aktau. The Tengrinews agency published a video from the cabin of the ill-fated plane showing oxygen masks falling off, as well as excited shouts from passengers and a recording of a bearded man repeatedly shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is great).
The Embraer 190 aircraft took off in the morning from the Azerbaijani capital Baku and was due to fly a good hour to Grozny in the Russian republic of Chechnya. There were no official statements on the cause of the crash.
Why did the plane not fly to the destination airport?
According to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the plane was unable to land in Grozny due to poor weather conditions and therefore headed for an alternative airport. Many videos of the accident were circulating on social networks, he said. "But the reasons for the crash are still unknown to us." There are various theories. "The matter must be thoroughly clarified," he said, according to the state news agency Azertag.
In initial statements, Azerbaijan Airlines attributed the suspected damage to the aircraft to a possible collision with a flock of birds. Russian military bloggers did not rule out another explanation: The plane could have strayed over the North Caucasus into zones where Ukrainian drones were being fought on Wednesday morning. The internet aircraft tracker Flightradar24 analyzed that the damaged aircraft had flown over the Caspian Sea for the last 74 minutes with limited controllability.
Passengers survived in the rear of the plane
On impact, the short- and medium-haul jet burst into flames, as videos on social networks showed. According to photos, the tail was less damaged. According to media reports, surviving passengers were rescued from this part of the wreckage. The nose and middle section, however, were destroyed.
The regional administration of Mangistau published a list of the injured, which also included the names of two children. An eleven-year-old girl stated that she lived in Germany. She did not know her nationality. According to the list, 14 survivors were citizens of Azerbaijan, 10 of Russia and 2 of Kyrgyzstan. Azerbaijan Airlines suspended its flights to the Russian cities of Grozny and Makhachkala in the North Caucasus.
In the evening, the Kazakh agency Tengrinews published a complete passenger list, which also lists the nationality of almost all passengers. One woman's personal details were missing, while an eleven-year-old girl was listed with German citizenship.