Large holes in the fuselage of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday have sparked speculation that the plane was shot down in an attack.
The holes, clearly visible in photos and videos, were caused by gunfire, some commentators claim.
While investigators in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have yet to determine what caused the holes, social media is full of speculation that the plane was shot down.
The debate has been further fueled by reports that the plane was unable to land in Grozny, Chechnya, due to a Ukrainian drone strike hours before the crash.
The pilot reportedly diverted the flight to the city of Makhachkala in the neighboring Dagestan region, but was deterred by fog and eventually requested to land in Aktau, a city on the Caspian Sea.
Kazakhstan’s transport ministry said on Thursday that the Department for the Investigation of Road Accidents was currently investigating.
The ministry said a delegation from the State Civil Aviation Agency of Azerbaijan, as well as representatives of Azerbaijan Airlines, had arrived in Kazakhstan and were conducting an investigation in close cooperation.
Azerbaijan Airlines has suspended flights from Grozny to the Azerbaijani capital Baku and Makhachkala until the investigation is completed.
In a separate statement, Kazakhstan’s Emergencies Ministry said seven of the 38 people killed in the crash had been identified, adding that six of the injured were still in intensive care.
Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said nine Russian citizens injured in the crash had been repatriated.
An Azerbaijan Airlines plane carrying 67 people – 62 passengers and five crew members – crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday.
Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev announced that 38 people had died in the crash, with 29 survivors.
In Azerbaijan, December 26th was declared a day of national mourning due to the accident, AA writes.
