38 people died this Wednesday in the accident Azerbaijan Airlinesnear the city of Aktau, west of Kazakhstanas confirmed by Azerbaijani authorities. Of the remaining 29 survivors, including two children and Azerbaijani, Russian, Kazakh and Kyrgyz citizens, all have had to be hospitalized and 11 are in serious condition, added the Russian state news agency, Ria Novosti.
Despite initial balances that suggested a lower balance, Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbaev announced the official number after a meeting with officials from his country, hours after the incident. The two pilots are among the dead although it has not been possible to identify other fatalities yet since “the bodies are in poor condition, most of them burned.”
This Wednesday, the model airplane Embraer 190 took off from Baku bound for Terriblecapital of the Caucasian republic of Chechnya, according to the airline itself, but ended up making a emergency landing about three kilometers from the city of Aktau, on the shores of the Caspian Sea, in western Kazakhstan.
The preliminary investigation, led by the Russian civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, indicated that just a couple of hours into the flight, the plane began to report problems. Due to heavy fog in Grozny, it was diverted to Makhachkala, in Russian Dagestan, but the route ended up being changed to the Aktau area. It is believed that the ship had suffered an impact not yet specified, which was what led to “an emergency situation on board.”
According to flight tracking data from the FlightRadar24 site, the plane would have performed a sort of figure eight near the city airport while abruptly changed its altitude and would have experienced “strong GPS interference” that led to “transmitted erroneous ADS-B data”something for which Russia has been blamed in the past.
Images spread on social networks showed the moment in which the Embraer descends sharply in the sky until it crashes into the ground and becomes a huge ball of fire. As the hours passed, photos of the remains of the ship and the surviving passengers attending the scene were also revealed.
Despite these indications, the Airline and the Azerbaijani Government limited their statements and assured that the deployment of an official delegation composed of the Minister of Emergency Situations, the Deputy Attorney General and the Vice President of the company, to conduct “an on-site investigation.”
“We cannot disclose the results of the investigation at the moment. “All possible scenarios are being examined and the necessary expertise is underway.”added the Prosecutor’s Office.
Also, Azerbaijan Airlines suspended its flights to Grozny airport and Dagestan, while what happened is clarified.
For his part, President Ilham Aliyev suspended his trip to Russia and returned to his country to closely monitor the crisis. “The information that has been provided to me is that the plane diverted its course due to worsening weather conditions and began flying towards Aktau airport, where the accident occurred,” he said.
“It is with deep sadness that I express my condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” he added before announcing that December 26 will be a day of national mourning.
The Kremlin extended his condolences to his counterpart and assured that his emergency services also work in the area, while the Ministry of the Interior of Kazakhstan reported that it was also investigating the case for a possible “violation of air transport safety and exploitation regulations.”
(With information from AP)
