Azerbaijani and US officials believe a Russian surface-to-air missile caused the deadly crash of an Azerbaijani passenger jet, media reports and a US official said Thursday, as the Kremlin responded to “hypotheses” over the disaster. Had warned.
An Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashed near the oil and gas hub Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday after veering off course for unknown reasons.
Thirty-eight of the 67 people on board died.
The Embraer 190 plane was supposed to fly northwest from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the city of Grozny in Chechnya in southern Russia, but instead flew too far over the Caspian Sea.
An investigation is underway, the pro-government Azerbaijani website Caliber said, citing unnamed officials who believe a Russian missile fired from the Pantsir-S air defense system downed the plane.
The claim was also reported by The New York Times, broadcaster Euronews and Turkish news agency Anadolu.
Some aviation and military experts said the plane may have been accidentally shot down by Russian air defense systems as it was flying over an area where Ukrainian drone activity had been reported.
A former expert from France’s BEA air accident investigation agency said the wreckage appeared to have sustained “considerable shrapnel” damage.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said the damage was “reminiscent” of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down by a surface-to-air missile by Russia-backed rebels over eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “It would be wrong to make any hypotheses before the conclusion of the investigation.”
– Shrapnel injury information –
Euronews, citing Azerbaijani government sources, said that “shrapnel hit passengers and cabin crew as it exploded next to the plane in mid-flight”.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said that early indications suggested that a Russian anti-aircraft system had attacked the plane.
Kazakhstan news agency Kazinform quoted a regional prosecutor as saying that two black-box flight recorders had been recovered.
Azerbaijan Airlines initially said the plane passed through a flock of birds, before withdrawing the statement.
Kazakh officials said 38 people were killed and 29 survived, including three children.
Jalil Aliyev, father of flight attendant Hokum Aliyeva, told AFP it was his last flight before starting a job as a lawyer for the airline.
“Why did his young life end so tragically?” The man said in a trembling voice before hanging up the phone.
The Kazakh Health Ministry said eleven of the injured were in intensive care.
– day of mourning –
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev declared a day of mourning on Thursday and canceled his planned visit to Russia for an informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a group of former Soviet countries.
“I express my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the accident… and wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” Aliyev said in a social media post on Wednesday.
The flight radar website showed the plane deviating from its normal route, crossing the Caspian Sea and then circling over the area, where it eventually crashed near Aktau on the sea’s eastern coast.
Kazakhstan said there were 37 Azerbaijani passengers, six Kazakhs, three Kyrgyz and 16 Russians on board.
– Survivors covered in blood –
A Kazakh woman told the local branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) that she was near where the plane crashed and rushed to the scene to help survivors.
“They were covered in blood. They were crying. They were calling for help,” said the woman, who gave her name only as Elmira.
He said he rescued some teenagers.
“I will never forget his look of pain and despair,” Elmira said. “One girl pleaded: ‘Save my mother, my mother is back there’.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Aliyev and “expressed his condolences in connection with the accident,” Peskov told a news conference.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
