A passenger plane crashed near the city of Aktau (Kazakhstan). A fire broke out at the crash site.
According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic, 52 rescuers and 11 units of special equipment are working at the scene of the incident.
According to preliminary information received from local authorities, there are survivors.
According to TASS, this information was confirmed by the Minister of Health of Kazakhstan, who reported six surviving citizens.
According to the local Ministry of Transport, the plane of Azerbaijan Airlines, flying from Baku to Grozny, crashed.
The media reports that there were 67 passengers and 5 crew members on board the Embraer 190 airliner (according to other sources, there were 105 passengers and 5 crew members).
It is also reported that some passengers were able to leave the crashed plane on their own.
It is known that 12 people, including one child, were hospitalized. They were taken to the Mangistau Regional Hospital.
It is noted that the people who were in the tail section of the aircraft suffered less.
Representatives of Azerbaijan Airlines named a collision with a flock of birds as the preliminary cause of the plane crash.
According to some reports, there was also a steering problem.
The plane was flying from Baku, but due to fog in Grozny it was rerouted to Makhachkala and then to Aktau.
Before crashing, the airliner made several circles around the airport in Kazakhstan.
Currently, experts are clarifying the circumstances of the incident; a special investigation will be conducted into the incident.
