A passenger on the ill-fated Azerbaijan Airlines flight that crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan on Wednesday has captured footage of the horrifying moments before and after the accident, revealing the chaotic situation on board.
An Embraer 190 airliner heading from Baku, Azerbaijan to Grozny, Russia crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after changing course due to fog.
The plane, carrying 62 passengers and five crew members, was forced to make an emergency landing and 29 survivors were rescued by authorities.
The plane was scheduled to fly northwest from Baku to Grozny, but instead crossed the Caspian Sea and crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau.
Flightradar’s website shows the plane’s path deviated from its normal route, crossing the Caspian Sea and circling over the area where it ultimately crashed near Aktau.
Footage shared by Russian media outlet RT showed one passenger bleeding from the head and another trying to get off the plane.
Another video circulating on social media showed a man praying moments before the crash, with sounds of panic and the roar of the plane’s engines echoing in the background.
This video is over 1 minute and has not been independently verified by HT.com.
The death toll was 38, with 29 survivors hospitalized, but officials in Kazakhstan, Russia and Azerbaijan warned that the numbers could change.
Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash cause
According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Transport, the plane was carrying 37 people from Azerbaijan, six from Kazakhstan, three from Kyrgyzstan and 16 from Russia.
Azerbaijan Airlines initially said the incident appeared to have been caused by a bird strike, before retracting its statement. Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement that it “cannot reveal the results of the investigation at this time.”
“All possible scenarios are being considered and the necessary expert analysis is underway,” it added.
Images and video of the crash show the plane plummeting before hitting the shoreline and bursting into flames, followed by a plume of thick black smoke. A bloody and injured passenger was seen staggering away from the part of the plane’s fuselage that remained intact.
“I will never forget the look of pain and despair on their faces,” said a Kazakh woman who was near the crash site and rushed to the scene to help the survivors, AFP news agency said. “The girl begged, ‘Save my mother, she’s back there,'” the woman recalled.
