Dozens of people have died in a passenger plane crash in Kazakhstan, local officials said. So far, 25 people have been rescued alive.
The British media outlet BBC reported this information on Wednesday (December 25).
A passenger plane of Azerbaijan Airlines crashed near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, with 67 passengers and 5 crew members on board, the BBC reported, citing local officials in Kazakhstan. Dozens of people have died. The number may rise.
Meanwhile, the country's Ministry of Emergency Services said in a statement that 25 people have been rescued alive so far. Of these, 22 have been identified. Rescue operations are still ongoing.
The plane was carrying passengers from Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. However, there were more Azerbaijani citizens.
Citing Russian news agencies, Reuters reported that the plane belonged to Azerbaijan Airlines. It was flying from Baku to Grozny in Chechnya, Russia. However, fog forced the plane to change direction in Grozny.
Kazakh authorities have launched an investigation into possible causes of the crash, including technical problems, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
Azerbaijan Airlines said that flight J2-8243, an Embraer 190, had taken off from the Azerbaijani capital Baku for the city of Grozny in Chechnya, Russia. But the plane was forced to make an emergency landing about 3 kilometers from Aktau in Kazakhstan.
Embraer told the BBC that it was "ready to assist relevant authorities with rescue operations."
However, the BBC has not yet received a comment from Azerbaijan Airlines, which said it was continuing to contact them.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who was visiting Russia shortly after the plane crash, returned home. He was scheduled to attend a summit in Russia on Wednesday.