An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane carrying 67 people has crashed in Kazakhstan.
The Embraer 190 jet reportedly crashed near Aktau Airport in southwest Kazakhstan today.
Dozens are feared dead, while up to 27 people may have survived, according to media reports citing the country’s health officials.
The flight was travelling from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Grozny in Chechnya, Russia, but it was forced to reroute due to dense fog, Sky News reports.
The plane was carrying 62 passengers and five crew members. Most of the passengers were Azerbaijani nationals while some were from Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, according to BBC.
The 27 survivors, including three children, were rushed to the hospital, Al Jazeera reports citing the Kazakh health ministry.
Russia’s aviation watchdog claimed that preliminary information suggests the pilot made an emergency landing after a bird strike, according to the outlet.
Footage appears to show the terrifying moment the plane began to plunge before it turned into a fireball as it hit the ground.
The emergency services had to put out the flames at the crash site and 150 first responders were at the scene, the authorities said.
Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev has reportedly cut short his state visit to Russia where he was set to attend a conference today.
The Azerbaijan Airlines flight declared an emergency above the Caspian Sea before its altitude and speed data appeared to fluctuate on Flightradar24 which tracks and monitors planes worldwide.
Caspian Sea is the world’s largest inland body of water, and despite officially being a large lake, it is often thought of as a sea. It sees several days of fog throughout the year, including near Aktau which is on the coast.
Metro approached Azerbaijan Airlines for a comment.
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