Many K!lled and Others Injur*d as Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashes

An Azerbaijan plane with 67 people onboard crashed on Wednesday near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, k!lling 38 people and leaving 29 survivors.

Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbaev disclosed the figures while meeting with Azerbaijani officials.

The Embraer 190 was en route from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus when it was diverted and attempted an emergency landing three kilometres from Aktau, Azerbaijan Airlines said.

Speaking at a news conference, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said it was too soon to speculate on the reasons behind the crash but said the weather had forced the plane to change from its planned course.

“The information provided to me is that the plane changed its course between Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather conditions and headed to Aktau airport, where it crashed upon landing,” he said.

Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said preliminary information shows the pilots diverted to Aktau after a bird strike led to an emergency on board.

According to Kazakh officials, those aboard the plane included 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhs, and Kyrgyz nationals.

Azerbaijan’s prosecutor general’s office previously said 32 of the 67 people on board had survived the crash but told journalists that the number wasn’t final.

The Associated Press could not immediately reconcile the difference between the numbers of survivors given by Kazakhstan and Azerbaijani officials.

Kazakhstan’s main transport prosecutor, Timur Suleimenov, told a briefing in the country’s capital, Astana, that the plane’s black box, which contains flight data to help determine the cause of a crash, had been found.

Azerbaijan Airlines said it would keep members of the public updated and changed its social media banners to solid black. It also said it would suspend flights between Baku and Grozny, as well as between Baku and the city of Makhachkala in Russia’s North Caucasus, until its investigation into the crash has been concluded.

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