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| An Azerbaijan Airlines plane | Photo: AFP |
A passenger plane crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. The plane was flying from Azerbaijan to Russia with 62 passengers and five crew members on board. Kazakh authorities said 30 people were rescued alive.
The plane is operated by Azerbaijan Airlines. The video shows the plane catching fire as it hits the ground. Thick black smoke can be seen billowing from the crash site. However, the authenticity of the video could not be verified.
The Central Asian country's emergency services ministry said in a statement that firefighter crews had extinguished the fire on the plane. The injured were being treated at a nearby hospital.
Azerbaijan Airlines said that flight J2-8243, an Embraer 190 aircraft, was flying from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the city of Grozny in the Russian region of Chechnya. It was forced to make an emergency landing about three kilometers from the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. It is believed that the plane crashed.
Russian news agencies said the plane was diverted due to fog in Grozny.
Authorities in Kazakhstan said they were investigating whether there were any other reasons for the incident, including technical problems, according to Russian news agency Interfax.