On Wednesday, an Embraer (EMBR3.SA) passenger jet crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan claiming the lifes of 38 people, after diverting from an area of Russia that Moscow has recently defended against Ukrainian drone attacks. Twenty-nine survivors received hospital treatment.
Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 deviated hundreds of miles from its scheduled route from Azerbaijan to Russia, crashing on the opposite bank of the Caspian Sea after what Russia’s aviation agency said was an emergency triggered by a bird strike. However, an aviation expert stated that the cause seems unlikely.
Officials did not immediately explain why it had crossed the sea, but the crash came after Ukrainian drone strikes this month hit the Chechnya region of southern Russia. The nearest Russian airport on the plane’s flight path was closed on Wednesday morning.
Kyiv has not confirmed this month’s strikes on the Chechen capital of Grozny, where the jet was bound.
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Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev stated that the jet changed route due to poor weather, however the reason of the tragedy was unknown and must be thoroughly investigated. “This is a great tragedy that has become a tremendous sorrow for the Azerbaijani people,” he said.
Video of the crash showed the plane descending rapidly before bursting into flames as it hit the seashore, and thick black smoke then rising. Bloodied and bruised passengers could be seen stumbling from a piece of the fuselage that had remained intact.
