Kazakhstan’s Emergencies Ministry said 27 people survived the crash, 22 of whom were taken to hospital. 40 people were killed, the ministry said.
Emergency services said the plane that crashed belonged to an Azerbaijani airline. According to the state-run Kazinform news agency, the plane was flying from Baku to Grozny.
Kazakhstan’s transport ministry said in a statement that there were five nationalities on board – 37 Azerbaijanis, six Kazakhs, three Kyrgyz and 16 Russians.
“The plane was forced to make an emergency landing”
The Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau was carrying 105 passengers and five crew members.
Azerbaijan Airlines said the Embraer 190 was flying from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechnya, but was forced to make an emergency landing about three kilometers from the Kazakh city of Aktau.
Authorities in Kazakhstan said they had begun investigating various possible versions of what happened, including technical problems, the report said.
