Dozens Killed In Kazakhstan Plane Crash
Dozens of people have died following a passenger plane crash in Kazakhstan, where approximately 70 people were on board, according to local officials.
Authorities in Azerbaijan, the flight’s origin, report that there are at least 30 survivors.
The Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 caught fire while attempting an emergency landing near the Kazakh city of Aktau.
The plane was en route to Grozny in Russia but it was diverted due to fog, the airline told the BBC.
Footage shows the aircraft descending rapidly with its landing gear deployed before bursting into flames upon landing.
The airline confirmed that the plane made an emergency landing about 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) from Aktau.
The flight took off from Baku, Azerbaijan, at 03:55 GMT on Wednesday and crashed around 06:28, according to data from flight-tracking website Flightradar24.
Reports from Russian media suggest that the aircraft may have collided with a flock of birds before crashing, though this has not yet been confirmed.
Conflicting reports have emerged regarding the number of passengers on board and those who survived.
Azerbaijan Airlines said there were 62 passengers and 5 crew members aboard the Embraer 190, while other reports indicate a total of 72. The number of survivors has been reported to range from 28 to 32.
Most of those on board were Azerbaijani nationals, but there were also passengers from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
Unverified video footage has surfaced showing survivors crawling from the wreckage, some with visible injuries.
Both Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have initiated investigations into the incident, and Embraer, the aircraft manufacturer, has expressed its readiness to assist relevant authorities.
Embraer, a Brazilian company, is known for its strong safety record and is a smaller competitor to Boeing and Airbus.
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