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An Azerbaijan Airlines flight with 62 passengers and five crew members has crashed while making an emergency landing at an airport in Kazakhstan, with 29 survivors, including two children, taken to hospital.
Videos on local media showed a huge explosion as the plane crashed into an empty field. Footage from the scene showed passengers climbing out of the tail of the plane helped by emergency workers.
Those on board were from Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Russian state news agency Ria reported, citing Kazakhstan's transport ministry.
Local media reported that nine of those sent to hospital were in serious condition and that search and rescue operations were underway.
The plane, an Embraer 190, was traveling to Grozny in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya from the Azerbaijani capital Baku, but diverted to Aktau after flying into dense fog.
Initial media reports suggested the flight hit a flock of birds, which affected the aircraft's control.
“After a collision with birds, due to an emergency situation on board the aircraft, its commander decided to go to an alternative airport and Aktau was chosen,” Ria reported, citing the Russian aviation agency Rosaviatsia. Local media also shared unconfirmed reports of an explosion of an oxygen cylinder on board, causing many passengers to lose consciousness.
Baku has sent an official delegation to Kazakhstan to investigate the incident, Azerbaijan's APA news agency said. The country's president, Ilham Aliyev, left an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Russia to return to Baku. He expressed his condolences to the affected families.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin had also expressed his condolences to the Azerbaijani leader.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov expressed his condolences to the relatives of the deceased on social networks. “We pray to the Almighty for recovery (of the survivors)”.
Photos on social media showed relatives gathering at Grozny airport to hear news of their loved ones.
A man at Grozny airport said he had just received a video in which he could see that his grandson had survived the crash. “Of course I'm very happy,” he told a Ria news reporter.
