New Delhi:
A harrowing video taken by a passenger in the cabin of a plane that crashed in Kazakhstan today has been widely shared on social media, showing the last moments of the doomed plane. Thirty-eight people were killed in the crash near Aktau, an oil and gas hub on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea.
In the video, the passenger is heard saying “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) as the plane enters a steep descent. Yellow oxygen masks hung above the seats. Screams and cries were heard, amid the soft doorbell-like sound of the ‘wear seat belt’ light.
The plane flew from the Azerbaijani capital Baku on the western shore of the Caspian Sea to the city of Grozny in Chechnya in southern Russia. Azerbaijan Airlines, the country’s national carrier, said the plane “made an emergency landing” about 3 km from Aktau.
Another video taken inside the cabin — the plane’s ceiling panel with reading lights and an air blower is upside down — showed people screaming for help. The video was clear after the plane crashed.
The last moments of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane before the crash in Kazakhstan were captured by a passenger on board.
Aftermath is also included in the footage. pic.twitter.com/nCRozjdoUY
— Clash Report (@clashreport) December 25, 2024
Blood stains were visible on some armrests.
Azerbaijani authorities said 32 people survived the crash of the Embraer 190, a narrow-body passenger plane.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declared Thursday a day of national mourning and canceled a planned visit to Russia for an informal summit of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a group of former Soviet countries.
Kazakhstan’s Emergency Situations Ministry said its staff had extinguished a fire that broke out when the plane crashed. The Health Ministry said a special flight with specialized doctors had been sent from the Kazakh capital Astana to treat the injured.
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with Aliyev and also “expressed his condolences in connection with the crash,” his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a news conference.
A Russian Emergency Situations Ministry had been sent to Aktau with medical personnel and other equipment, President Putin said later as he opened the meeting of CIS leaders in St. Petersburg.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on Telegram: “I express my condolences to the relatives of the passengers of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane who died.”
The plane’s course on Flight Radar showed it crossed the Caspian Sea, deviating from its normal route, and then circled over the area where it ultimately crashed.
Kazakhstan said it had opened an investigation.
With input from AFP