An Azerbaijan Airlines flight from Baku to Grozny in Chechnya crashed near Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Russian news agencies reported the plane was diverted due to fog in Grozny. The flight 8243 had 62 passengers and five crew members on board.
“The passengers comprised 37 Azerbaijanis, 16 Russians, 6 Kazakhs, and 3 Kyrgyz nationals,” stated Azerbaijan Airlines on its social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), and subsequently published the full list of passenger names and hotline numbers for their families.
There are at least 29 survivors, the Emergency Situations Ministry said in a statement, citing preliminary information. The plane had 64 passengers and 5 crew members on board, Bloomberg reported.
Most of the 29 survivors identified so far were seated in the rear section of the plane, reported Interfax, citing the airline.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences to Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, over the loss of life on Wednesday in a plane crash involving an Azerbaijan Airlines plane, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, Reuters reported.
