An Azerbaijan Airlines flight with 67 people onboard crashed near Aktau, a city in western Kazakhstan, on Wednesday, December 25. Local authorities confirmed that at least 32 survivors were rescued from the wreckage.
The Embraer 190, which was en route from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia, deviated from its flight path and crashed near Aktau, located along the Caspian Sea.
The Kazakh Transport Ministry confirmed the incident, stating, “A plane operating the Baku-Grozny route crashed near Aktau. It belongs to Azerbaijan Airlines.” The airline reported that the aircraft had 62 passengers and five crew members.
According to Azerbaijani officials, the plane made an emergency landing about 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) from Aktau. Following the crash, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev canceled his planned visit to Russia for a summit of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) leaders.
Azerbaijan’s prosecutor general’s office confirmed that 32 people survived the crash, while Kazakhstan’s emergency ministry reported that firefighters successfully extinguished the blaze at the crash site.
An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the crash, with both local and international authorities collaborating on the inquiry.
