Aktau (Web Desk/Agencies): A devastating accident occurred on Wednesday when an Embraer passenger plane, Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243, crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.
According to details, the flight was en route from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia, and had 62 passengers and five crew members on board. After the emergency, 32 survivors were rescued, though many were injured in the crash.
The aircraft, an Embraer 190 jet, had been forced to divert from its original route after a suspected bird strike, which may have caused an emergency situation onboard.
As the plane veered off its planned flight path, it flew hundreds of miles off-course before crashing on the opposite side of the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan.
"Preliminary: after a collision with birds, due to an emergency situation on board, its commander decided to ‘go’ to an alternate airfield - Aktau was chosen,” Russia’s aviation watchdog said on Telegram.
In the aftermath, footage from the crash site showed the plane descending rapidly before it exploded in flames upon impact with the ground.
Thick black smoke billowed from the wreckage as passengers, bloodied and bruised, struggled to escape from the debris. Local fire crews quickly extinguished the blaze, and survivors were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, where officials reported some of the victims were in critical condition.
Kazakh authorities, including the country's emergency ministry, confirmed that a government commission would investigate the incident.
The commission would also work with Azerbaijan to examine the circumstances surrounding the crash. "Kazakhstan would cooperate with Azerbaijan on the investigation," the government said in a statement.
The crash occurred amid heightened tensions in the region, following drone strikes earlier in the day targeting southern Russia.
Airports in the area had been closed for several hours, adding an air of uncertainty around the incident.
The flight, which had been tracked along the west coast of the Caspian Sea, disappeared from radar before reappearing near Aktau, where it circled before descending.
World leaders quickly offered condolences following the tragic event.
"Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased and we wish a swift recovery to the injured. Pakistan stands with Azerbaijan in this hour of grief," said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, expressing solidarity with the people of Azerbaijan.
"Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences as did Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, who had decided to return home from Russia where he had been due to attend a summit on Wednesday, his office said."
Additionally, Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, expressed his sympathy and noted the serious condition of some of the injured. "Some of those being treated in hospital were in an extremely serious condition and that he and others would pray for their rapid recovery," Kadyrov said in a statement.