Azerbaijan mourns 38 killed in plane crash in Kazakhstan

Astana – Azerbaijan held a national day of mourning on Dec 26 after a passenger jet from Azerbaijan Airlines crashed in western Kazakhstan on Christmas Day, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.

The Embraer 190 aircraft was supposed to fly north-west from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the city of Grozny in Chechnya in southern Russia, but instead was diverted far off course across the Caspian Sea. It

crashed on Dec 25 near the city of Aktau

in Kazakhstan.

An investigation into the causes of the crash is under way, but some aviation and military experts said the plane may have been accidentally shot down by Russian air defence systems as it was flying in an area where Ukrainian drone activity had been reported.

The flight that crashed was downed by a Russian air defence system, four sources in Azerbaijan with knowledge of the investigation told Reuters.

Officials condemned “speculation” about what happened.

“We need to await the end of the investigation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Kazakh Senate Speaker Maulen Ashimbayev was quoted by Russia’s Tass news agency as saying it was “not possible” to say what may have damaged the plane.

“Real experts are looking at all this and they will make their conclusions. Neither Kazakhstan, nor Russia, nor Azerbaijan, of course, are interested in hiding information – it will be brought to the public,” he said.

But Russian military expert Yury Podolyaka said holes seen in the wreckage of the plane were similar to the damage caused by an “anti-aircraft missile system”.

“Everything points to that,” he wrote.

Azerbaijan Airlines initially said the plane flew through a flock of birds, before withdrawing the statement.

The airline reported that 67 people were on board the jet – 62 passengers and five crew members.

Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said that 38 people had been killed, while the Kazakh Emergency Situations Ministry reported “29 survivors, including three children, have been hospitalised”. Eleven of the injured are in intensive care, the Kazakh Health Ministry said.

Azerbaijan state news agency Azertac reported that 12 of the survivors were being flown to Azerbaijan.

Day of mourning

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declared Dec 26 a day of mourning and cancelled a planned visit to Russia for an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a grouping of former Soviet nations.

His office said the Azerbaijani President “ordered the prompt initiation of urgent measures to investigate the causes of the disaster”.

“I extend my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the crash... and wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” Mr Aliyev said in a social media post.

The Flightradar24 website showed the plane deviating from its normal route, crossing the Caspian Sea and then circling over the area where it eventually crashed near Aktau, an oil and gas hub on the eastern shore of the sea.

Azerbaijan Airlines, the country’s flag carrier, said the plane “made an emergency landing” around 3km from Aktau.

The Kazakh Emergency Situations Ministry said its staff put out a fire which broke out when the plane crashed.

It said 150 emergency workers attended the scene.

Kazakhstan said the plane was carrying 37 Azerbaijani passengers, six Kazakhs, three Kyrgyz and 16 Russians.

Bloodied survivors

A Kazakh woman told the local branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that she was near where the plane crashed and rushed to the site to help survivors.

“They were covered in blood. They were crying. They were calling for help,” said the woman, who gave her name as Elmira, adding that some teenagers were saved.

“I’ll never forget their look, full of pain and despair,” she said. “A girl pleaded, ‘Save my mother, my mother is back there’.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation with Mr Aliyev and “expressed his condolences in connection with the crash”, his spokesman, Mr Peskov, told a news conference.

A Russian Emergency Situations Ministry plane had been sent to Aktau with medical personnel and other equipment, Mr Putin said later as he opened the CIS leaders’ meeting in St Petersburg.

Azerbaijan’s First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva, who is also the country’s First Lady, said she was “deeply saddened by the news of the tragic loss of lives in the plane crash near Aktau”.

“I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims. Wishing them strength and patience! I also wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” she said on Instagram. AFP