At least 27 people are believed to have survived after a passenger plane flying from Azerbaijan to Russia crashed near Kazakhstan’s Aktau city on Wednesday, media reports said.
The plane, which was operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, was carrying 62 passengers and five crew on board.
An unverified video of the incident has gone viral on social media, where an aircraft could be seen bursting into flames after crashing to the ground.
Kazakh Emergency Situations Ministry said in a statement as quoted by Sputnik news agency: “A plane flying from Baku to Grozny crashed at the Aktau airport. Fifty-two personnel and 11 units of equipment of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan arrived in Aktau at the crash site.”
“Upon arrival, the aircraft was found to be on fire. Rescue units began extinguishing the fire,” the statement said.
The Ministry said in the statement: “[A total of] 27 were taken to hospital, including three children.”
According to Russian media reports, the survivors have been taken to a hospital. Azerbaijan Airlines said in a statement: “Additional information will be provided to the public regarding the incident.”
In the statement posted on Facebook, the Airlines said flight J2-8243 was en-route from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to Grozny in Russia when it crashed approximately 3 km from Aktau.
The Airlines, however, said no child was flying in the plane.
In an X post, the Airlines said: “There were 67 people on board, including 62 passengers and 5 crew members. There were no children among the passengers, and information about the injured will be provided shortly. According to the information, there are survivors who are receiving initial medical assistance.”
The exact cause of the crash is still not known.
