Dozens of individuals have survived a crash involving a aircraft carrying 67 individuals in Kazakhstan, native officers say.
Kazakh authorities mentioned 38 individuals have been killed within the crash.
The aircraft was en path to Grozny in Russia however it was diverted attributable to fog, the airline instructed the BBC. The Kremlin mentioned on Thursday that it might not “put ahead hypotheses” about the reason for the crash till the investigation was completed.
Azerbaijan Airways flight J2-8243 caught hearth because it tried to make an emergency touchdown close to the Kazakh metropolis of Aktau.
Footage exhibits the plane heading in direction of the bottom at excessive pace with its touchdown gear down, earlier than bursting into flames because it lands.
The airline mentioned the aircraft “made an emergency touchdown” about 3km (1.9 miles) from Aktau.
It took off from the Azerbaijani capital Baku at 03:55 GMT on Wednesday, and crashed round 06:28, information from flight-tracking web site Flightradar24 confirmed.
Unconfirmed reviews from Russian media mentioned the plane might need collided with a flock of birds earlier than crashing.
Azerbaijan’s prosecutor basic mentioned “all potential eventualities” have been being examined and President Ilham Aliyev mentioned it was too early to say something definitive.
Air defence specialists have urged that the sample of injury inside and out of doors the aircraft signifies Russian air defence energetic in Grozny might have induced the crash.
“It seems very very similar to the detonation of an air defence missile to the rear and to the left of the plane, in case you have a look at the sample of shrapnel that we see,” Justin Crump of danger advisory firm Sibylline instructed BBC Radio 4.
Azerbaijan Airways mentioned flights between Baku and the Russian cities of Grozny and Makhachkala could be cancelled pending an investigation into the incident.
The aircraft’s flight information recorder has been recovered, officers say.
These on board have been largely Azerbaijani nationals, however there have been additionally some passengers from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
A lady who was travelling to spend the vacations together with her youngsters in Chechnya, of which Grozny is the capital, died within the crash. One mom, travelling with medical assessments for her sick little one, continues to be lacking.
A younger lady shared her heartache with the BBC’s Azerbaijani service as she tried to seek out out what occurred to her father, who was on the flight.
She defined that her father had been travelling along with his son, who survived the crash. The son managed to contact his sister, however there was nonetheless no information of their father.
Unverified video footage confirmed survivors crawling out of the wreckage, some with seen accidents.
Each Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have launched investigations into the incident. Embraer instructed the BBC it was “prepared to help all related authorities”.
The BBC has contacted Azerbaijan Airways for remark.
Embraer, a Brazilian producer, is a smaller rival to Boeing and Airbus, and has a powerful security report.