SEAToday.com, Jakarta - An Azerbaijan Airlines plane carrying 67 people crashed near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday, December 25, 2024. The incident claimed at least 38 lives.

According to CNN, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev reported that 29 survivors, including two children, were rescued from the wreckage. He added that 11 of the survivors were in critical condition.

The flight, numbered J2-8243, was traveling from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny in Russia’s Chechnya region before making an emergency landing about 3 kilometers from Aktau.

Footage from the crash site showed confused survivors emerging from the burning plane. Kazakh authorities stated that the survivors had been taken to a hospital for treatment.

Bozumbayev also confirmed that none of the surviving passengers were Kazakh citizens.

“The bodies are unrecognizable, mostly burnt. Everything has been collected,” Bozumbayev said. “The remains are now in the mortuary, and identification will be carried out.”

He also mentioned one unidentified survivor. “He is unconscious, has no documents, and is currently in the hospital,” he added.

A search team has recovered the plane’s black box, Azerbaijan’s state news agency AZERTAC reported. Kazakhstan’s government has formed a commission to investigate the cause of the crash and to support the passengers’ families. The investigation will be conducted in cooperation with Azerbaijan.