19 hours ago
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Kazakhstan: Passenger plane crashes close to Aktau Airport
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190. (Image: AP Photo/Azamat Sarsenbayev)
Four bodies have been recovered and dozens are feared dead following a plane crash in Kazakhstan.
The country's emergencies ministry said an Azerbaijan Airlines plane carrying 72 people crashed near Aktau airport. 67 passengers and five crew members were onboard.
Associated Press (AP) has reported that four bodies have been recovered. More than 30 people are likely dead. Russian news agency Interfax quoted emergency workers at the scene as saying that both pilots, according to a preliminary assessment, died in the crash.
Authorities say at least 32 people survived, including three children - the survivors are being treated at a nearby hospital.
The aircraft was flying from Baku in Azerbaijan to Grozny in Russia, but was rerouted due to fog.
Emergency services remain at the scene as they are reported to have extinguished a fire at the crash site.
Azerbaijan Airlines said the Embraer 190 aircraft had been forced to make an emergency landing around two miles from the city of Aktau.
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190. (Image: AP Photo/Azamat Sarsenbayev)
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190. (Image: AP Photo/Azamat Sarsenbayev)
A spokesperson for Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said that preliminary reports show that the pilot had chosen to divert the plane to Aktau after a bird strike on the aircraft led to “an emergency situation on board”.
AP reports that flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24.com showed the aircraft making what appeared to be a figure-right once the craft was near the airport in Kazakhstan. This would cause the altitude to move up and down substantially over the last minutes of the flight before impacting the ground.
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