Azerbaijani Airlines flight-8432 enroute Baku to Grozny crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday, the Kazakh Emergency Ministry said.
In a statement, AZAL informed that the Embraer 190 aircraft, operating the Baku-Grozny flight, made an emergency landing 3 kilometers from the city of Aktau.
According to preliminary information, the cause of the crash was a collision of the aircraft with a flock of birds, the statement said.
The aircraft caught fire following the crash, and emergency responders are working to extinguish it, the ministry said in a statement, adding that preliminary reports indicated there are survivors.
“Fifty-two personnel and 11 units of equipment from the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan have been deployed. Upon arrival, the aircraft was found ablaze. Rescue operations are ongoing, and information about the victims is being clarified,” the statement said.
The plane was carrying 105 passengers and five crew members, according to preliminary reports.
A total of six passengers survived the crash, Kazakh Health Minister Alnazarova told reporters.
Russian news agencies said the plane had been flying from Baku to Grozny in Russia’s Chechnya, but had been rerouted due to fog in Grozny.
