A Russia-bound Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane came crashing down near the Aktau airport in Kazakhstan on Christmas day, the Kazakh Ministry of Emergency Situations has revealed in a statement.
Flight number J2-8243, which is an Embraer 190 aircraft, had 62 passengers and five staffers aboard. At least 42 people have been killed, leaving 28 people, including two children, in the hospital. The plane was forced into making an emergency landing about 3km (1.8 miles) from the airport.
All we know about the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash
In an unverified video, the plane can be seen spontaneously combusting as it comes crashing onto the ground, just before plumes of black smoke waft into the air. At the time, the plane was headed to Grozny in Russia's Chechnya from Baku, but was being rerouted due to fog in Grozny.
"A plane doing the Baku-Grozny route crashed near the city of Aktau. It belongs to Azerbaijan Airlines," the Kazakh transport ministry said.
As reported by the Russian news agency Interfax, the ministry has said that there may be more passengers who survived the crash, though medical workers responding to the scene have already uncovered four bodies. Initial reports first pointed to only 14 people being hospitalized, though it was later upped to 22 passengers.
At the time, the health ministry's regional department reportedly said in a statement:
"At the moment, 14 survivors have been taken to the regional hospital, including five in intensive care."
Per Al Jazeera, the Emergencies Ministry revealed that fire services were quick to extinguish the flames.
Yulia Shapovalova, a reporter for Al Jazeera, said from Moscow:
"According to preliminary reports, the plane requested landing at an alternative airport before the accident … due to heavy fog in Grozny."
Reportedly, however, the pilot may have opted to land the plane in a rush due to a possible bird strike. At the time of writing, the reasons behind the plane going up in flames remain unknown, though authorities are looking into the matter. It remains to be seen if it was a technical issue or something else. Per Interfax, however, some of the plane's backup systems and controls were faulty or began acting up.
Azerbaijan Airlines took to Instagram to issue an official statement:
"The Embraer 190 aircraft operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, flight numbered J2-8243 on the Baku-Grozny route, made an emergency landing approximately three kilometres near the city of Aktau. Additional information regarding the incident will be provided to the public."
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Per Al Jazeera, citizens from Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan were all aboard the plane at the time.
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