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Dozens survived the Kazakhstan passenger plane crash

Dozens of people have died after a plane carrying 69 people crashed in Kazakhstan, local officials said.

Kazakh authorities said 38 people died in the crash, while others survived.

Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 caught fire during an emergency landing near the Kazakh city of Aktau.

The flight was bound for Grozny, Russia but was diverted due to fog, the airline told the BBC.

The footage shows the plane heading down at high speed with its landing gear down, before bursting into flames as it landed.

The airline said the plane “made an emergency landing” about 3km (1.9 miles) from Aktau.

It took off from Azerbaijan's capital Baku at 03:55 GMT on Wednesday, and crashed at around 06:28, according to data from flight-tracking website Flightradar24.

Unconfirmed reports from Russian media said the plane may have collided with a flock of birds before crashing.

Azerbaijan Airlines said that flights between Baku and the Russian cities of Grozny and Makhachkala will be canceled while the investigation into the incident is completed.

Most of the people on board were Azerbaijanis, but there were also passengers from Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

A woman who was going to spend the holidays with her children in Chechnya, whose capital is Grozny, died in the accident. Another mother, who was accompanying her sick child, has not been found.

A young woman shared her grief with the BBC's Azerbaijan service as she tried to find out what happened to her father who was on the plane.

He explained that his father was traveling with his son who survived the accident. The son was able to contact his sister, but nothing has been reported about their father.

Unverified video showed survivors crawling out of the rubble, some with visible injuries.

Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have launched an investigation into the incident. Embraer told the BBC it was “ready to assist all relevant authorities”.

The BBC has contacted Azerbaijan Airlines for comment.

Embraer, a Brazilian manufacturer, is a smaller competitor to Boeing and Airbus, and has a strong safety record.


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