Astana:
Azerbaijani and U.S. officials believe the deadly crash of an Azerbaijani airliner was caused by a Russian surface-to-air missile, media reports and U.S. officials said Thursday, as Kremlin warns against ‘hypotheticals’ about the accident uttered.
An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane crashed on Wednesday near the oil and gas hub of Kazakhstan’s Aktau city after going off course for unknown reasons.
Of the 67 passengers and crew on board, 38 died.
The Embraer 190 was scheduled to fly northwest from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to the city of Grozny in Chechnya in southern Russia, but it veered far off course and crossed the Caspian Sea.
The pro-Azerbaijani government website Caliber, citing unnamed officials, said it believed a Russian missile fired from the Pantsir-S air defense system shot down the plane, and an investigation is underway.
The claim was also reported in the New York Times, broadcaster Euronews and Turkish news agency Anadolu.
Some aviation and military experts said the plane may have been accidentally shot by Russian air defense systems because it was flying over an area where Ukrainian drone activity was reported.
A former expert with France’s aviation accident investigation agency, BEA, said the wreckage appeared to have suffered “massive debris” damage.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said the damage was “reminiscent” of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, which was shot down by a surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine in 2014 by Russian-backed rebels.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “It would be a mistake to formulate hypotheses before the results of the investigation are available.”
– Debris impact reported –
Euronews quoted an Azerbaijani government source as saying, “During the flight, there was an explosion next to the aircraft, and fragments hit the passengers and cabin crew.”
A U.S. official also said on condition of anonymity that early indications suggested Russian anti-aircraft systems attacked the aircraft.
Kazakh news agency Kazinform quoted the local prosecutor as saying that two black box flight recorders had been recovered.
Azerbaijan Airlines initially said the plane had flown into a flock of birds, but later retracted its statement.
Kazakh officials said 38 people died and 29 survived, including three children.
Jalil Aliyev, the father of flight attendant Khokme Aliyev, told AFP that this was supposed to be his last flight before starting work as an airline lawyer.
“Why did her young life have to end so tragically?” the man said in a trembling voice before hanging up.
According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Health, 11 of the injured are in intensive care.
– Day of Remembrance –
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev declared a day of mourning on Thursday and canceled a planned trip to Russia for an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a group of former Soviet states.
“My condolences go to the families of those who lost their lives in the crash… and I wish the injured a speedy recovery,” Aliyev said in a social media post on Wednesday.
According to the Flightradar website, the plane deviated from its normal route and crossed the Caspian Sea before circling over the area where it ultimately crashed near Aktau on the east coast of the sea.
Kazakhstan said the plane was carrying 37 Azerbaijanis, six Kazakhs, three Kyrgyzstans and 16 Russians.
-Bloody Survivors-
A Kazakh woman told the local station of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) that she was close to where the plane crashed and rushed to the scene to help the survivors.
“They were covered in blood and crying. They were begging for help,” said a woman who gave her name as Elmira.
She said they saved several teens.
“I will never forget the look of pain and despair on their faces,” Elmira said. “The girl begged, “Save my mother, she’s back there.”
Peskov told a news conference that Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Aliyev by phone and “expressed his condolences in connection with the accident.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
