An Azerbaijani flight carrying 67 people on board crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, with dozens surviving the crash while 38 people were killed in the crash.
In an extensive rescue operation, 29 people survived the crash, including two children, who were pulled from the flight’s wreckage in a severe situation, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbaev said.
Deputy PM Bozumbaev further added that out of 29 survivors, 11 were in a critical condition. Detailing about the deceased, he said “The bodies are in poor condition, mostly burnt, all collected. Now they will be in the morgue, and identification will take place.”
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lays on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan. (AP Photo)
According to the deputy PM, the identity of one of the survivors remains unknown. “She is unconscious, has no documents, and is in the hospital,” Bozumbaev said.
Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 was enroute to Russia’s Grozny but it was diverted to Kazakhstan due to fog, the airline said, reported BBC. The flight caught fire when it tried to make an emergency landing near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday.
Footage from the site has captured the charred remains of the plane while bloodied survivors appeared in the thick plume of smoke. They were rushed to the hospital, Kazakh authorities said and the deputy PM added that none of the survivors were nationals of Kazakhstan.
According to flight tracking website Flightradar24, the Azerbaijan Airlines flight took off from the capital city of Baku at around 03:55 GMT on Wednesday, and crashed around 06:28 in Kazakhstan.
Officials added that the flight’s black box had been recovered. The survivors were mostly Azerbaijani nationals, including few passengers from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
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