LONDON — An Azerbaijan Airlines jetliner crashed Wednesday morning near Aktau airport in Kazakhstan, near the Caspian Sea, Kazakh authorities said, killing up to 40 people.
The plane was flying from Baku in Azerbaijan to Grozny in Russia, the Transport Ministry said in a message posted on its official Telegram channel. It was diverted to Aktau, Kazakhstan, due to fog in Grozny, Russian news agencies reported.
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations told ABC News that the plane was carrying 69 people, including 64 passengers and five crew members. The ministry said 29 people survived the crash, many of whom were hospitalized.
Two children were among those hospitalized, the ministry said in a message posted on its Telegram channel.
Kazakhstan’s deputy health minister told ABC News that some of those hospitalized are in critical condition.
A drone view shows the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines jetliner near the town of Aktau, Kazakhstan, December 25, 2024.
Azamat Sarsenbayev/Reuters
Kazakh authorities have opened an investigation into the crash, focusing on bird strikes, mechanical failures and the decision to reroute the flight due to adverse weather conditions, Kazakh aviation authorities told ABC News .
Among the passengers were 37 citizens of Azerbaijan, six from Kazakhstan, three from Kyrgyzstan and 16 from Russia, the Transport Ministry said in a statement, citing “preliminary data.”
Azerbaijan Airlines said in a message to X that the plane “made an emergency landing” about 3 km from Aktau. The plane was an Embraer 190 model with flight number J2-8243, he said.
This is a developing story. Please check again for updates.
ABC News’ Tomek Rolski and Dragana Jovanovic contributed to this report.
