On board the crashed aircraft of the Azerbaijani airline AZAL there were 67 people, including 5 crew members.
According to MIA Kazinform, Transport Minister Marat Karabayev stated that as a result of the incident, 38 passengers died, and 29 people, including three children, were hospitalised.
23 Azerbaijani citizens out of the 37 on board died. All three citizens of Kyrgyzstan survived. There were 16 Russian citizens on the plane, seven of whom died.
According to the minister, there were six Kazakh citizens on board, all of whom died. Three passengers were from the Mangystau region, two from Astana, and one from the Kostanay region.
The crew consisted of five people: two died, both of whom were pilots.
Among the injured are 15 citizens of Azerbaijan, 9 citizens of Russia, 2 citizens of Kyrgyzstan, and 3 people whose citizenship is being confirmed.
In turn, Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev held a briefing for the media at the scene, where he commented on the question of the preliminary causes of the plane crash. There, journalists were also informed about the discovery of a black box at the crash site.
“It is impossible to establish even a preliminary cause, because there are specialists for that. They will carry out the work. Then it will be clear. I cannot speak now. I have seen what people are posting… By the time it hit the ground, it was turning over, many things could have happened. Therefore, I am far from drawing any conclusions”, said Kanat Bozumbayev.
It is worth recalling that on 25 December, three kilometres from Aktau airport, a plane crashed belonging to the Azerbaijani airline AZAL, which was travelling from Baku to Grozny. According to preliminary information, the plane lost control after colliding with a bird. Following the crash, the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan established a commission to investigate the causes of the plane crash.