Dozens die as airliner crashes in Kazakhstan

At least thirty-eight people died Wednesday after an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed in Kazakhstan, according to a report by Russia’s Interfax that cited a Kazakh politician. The airline identified the aircraft as an Embraer 190, with flight number J2-8243. A total of 62 passengers were on the flight, along with five crew members, according to Azerbaijan Airlines. Among them were 37 Azerbaijanis, 16 Russians, six Kazakhs, and three passengers from Kyrgyz. The airline published a complete manifest of the passengers and crew Wednesday morning, calling it a tragic day and extending its condolences to the families of the deceased.

What caused the crash? An investigation is ongoing. Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, blamed a bird strike for causing the emergency, according to the Associated Press.

The crew of the aircraft declared an emergency at around 11 a.m. local time, according to reporting by the Associated Press, citing an official from Kazakhstan’s Department of Emergency Situations. Azerbaijan Airlines said the flight was en route from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny when it made what the airline characterized as an emergency landing less than two miles from the city of Aktau. The city is located on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea in the central Asian country.