Azerbaijan Airlines flight 8432, carrying at least 72 people, crashed near Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, according to the country’s Emergencies Ministry.
The passenger plane was en route from Baku to Grozny in Russia’s Chechnya but had been rerouted due to fog in Grozny, Russian news agencies reported.
The aircraft caught fire after the crash, and emergency responders swiftly arrived at the scene to extinguish the flames. The ministry confirmed that initial reports suggested there were survivors, although the exact number was unclear.
The rescue operation has been mobilised with 52 personnel and 11 units of equipment deployed from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations. The plane was found ablaze upon their arrival, and recovery efforts are ongoing as authorities work to clarify details about the victims. The cause of the crash remains unknown.
No immediate comment has been made by Azerbaijan Airlines. Local authorities are continuing to investigate the incident.
Last week, at least nine people died when a small plane crashed in Gramado, in southern Brazil, authorities said, slamming into a commercial area of the tourist city.
The aircraft crashed into the chimney of a building, struck the second floor of a house and then “fell on a furniture store,” the Rio Grande do Sul state security secretariat said in a statement.
