Passenger Plane Crashes in Kazakhstan, 32 Survivors Rescued
A passenger plane flying from Azerbaijan to Russia crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, with 62 passengers and five crew members on board. Authorities confirmed 32 survivors, including two children, were rescued and are receiving treatment at a nearby hospital.
The Embraer 190 jet, operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, was traveling from Baku to Grozny but made an emergency landing after reportedly colliding with birds. The crash occurred about 3 kilometers from Aktau airport on the Caspian Sea’s eastern shore, far off its scheduled route.
Unverified footage showed the plane rapidly descending and bursting into flames upon impact. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, and efforts to recover the bodies of the deceased are underway.
Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have launched an investigation into the crash. Officials are also looking into possible links to drone activity that disrupted airports in southern Russia earlier that day.
World leaders, including President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, expressed their condolences. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also shared sympathies with the victims’ families and wished the injured a swift recovery.
